Bob and Michelle Porobic have owned their TC Gemini for 27 years, and in that time the compact Holden sedan has undergone several rebuilds and colour changes.

Bob and Michelle purchased the Gem with an engineered 253-swap, and we featured it in the July 2012 issue of Street Machine, just after Bob had completed his first rebuild of the car. Painted in a light custom silver, the little Holden was packing a Dominator-carbed 383 Holden that could run mid-nines over the quarter and hold its own in the Summernats Elite Hall.

Then tragedy struck, with the beautiful Gemini hitting the wall at Heathcote Park Raceway during a powerskid, less than 24 hours after its Street Machine feature shoot. “It hit at the front, then spun the rear around and hit the rear quarter, the beaver panel and the bootlid,” Bob told us soon after it happened 14 years ago.

The car was a mess, but with the help of the late Craig Brewer from Pro Pipes & Race Cars they mounted it on a rotisserie and began straightening the whole thing out, kicking off a total bumper-to-bumper rebuild.

“We were always going to do a colour change anyway, but we’re wishing it wasn’t under these circumstances,” Bob said after the accident.

The results of the Gem’s long rebuild were finally unveiled to the public at Meguiar’s MotorEx 2026 this weekend, and it’s easy to tell that every part of the car has been revamped. Bob and Michelle have taken a car that was already amazing and turned it into something even more spectacular.

All the original engine bay sheet metal has been replaced with clean, straight steel, and that same approach has been taken to the rest of the car as well, including the floorpan and boot. We’re not even sure how much of the original Gemini remains. Naturally, the whole car has been given some serious structural upgrades, including a full rollcage.

The interior has also had a full retrim in tan Alcantara and leather, and the old dash with its many gauges has been replaced with a much sleeker unit mounting a FuelTech FT600, which runs the injected 383 Holden up front – no more carby. In fact, the old Harrop intake has also been ditched; Bob’s gone with a shiny new Blitz billet manifold to bring the Gem into the 21st century.

Outside, they’ve given the Gemini a new cowl hood and chosen a custom darker shade of silver for the paint, applied by KB Prestige & Restoration. It rolls on fresh 10in-wide Street Pro beadlocks on the rear and matching 17×4.5 skinnies for the front.

Now that the DEADLI Gemini is back and looking better than ever, it’s sure to continue its winning ways both on and off the track. “We’ll probably do the show scene for probably the next 12 months,” Michelle says. “But Bob just wants to go smash tyres and cruise with his sons!”