Mark is a big fan of US car-building legend Troy Trepanier — he happily admits Troy has always inspired him.<\/p>\n

“Troy once said something like: ‘You can build one good car, build two good cars, build three good cars. After the third, you know you’re going somewhere’,” Mark says.<\/p>\n

This isn’t the third car Mark has built — he’s probably played with three dozen over the years — but he considers it the third good one, after the second and third incarnations of the Chev. Is this Sydney-based show-car builder going somewhere?<\/p>\n

MORE<\/span> $\"Pontiac$ <\/button><\/section>\n

“I’ve always really been into American cars but this time I wanted to build something with broader appeal than a ’55-or-something Chev,” explains Mark. “I wanted something that the younger, up-and-coming blokes could look at and appreciate,” he adds.<\/p>\n

And Pontiac’s Australian styled and manufactured GTO — a Holden Monaro to you and me — fitted that US-but-younger mindset brilliantly.<\/p>\n

Holden’s Australian marketing department put Mark in touch with Pontiac in the US. After a time-consuming paperchase across the planet, Mark got hold of a prototype GTO body shell which had been used as a development hack for the big Aussie coupe’s switch to left-hand drive. The shell was delivered in July 2003 with doors and guards. Although Mark picked it up from Holden in Melbourne, officially it’s from AC Delco, GM\/Pontiac’s US spare parts division, who came on board as sponsor. AC Delco also provided all the unique Pontiac components such as nose cone and dash.<\/p>\n

MORE<\/span> $\"Pontiac$ <\/button><\/section>\n

It didn’t stay as a standard shell for long. Craig Burns at Streetcar Fabrications in Narellan, NSW was presented with the shell and a plan: “I wanted elements of road and race,” says Mark. “That’s why I kept some of the chassis bits in place, and the firewall. It would have been easier to get rid of the lot, actually, but I didn’t want it to be a pure drag car.”<\/p>\n

Mark was on hand most of the time to help get the job done. Always hands-on, he helped by cutting out the floor from the firewall to the boot. The skinned shell was placed on Craig’s alignment bed and the spaceframe-style chassis and rollcage constructed between the sills from chrome-moly tube. The front chassis rails, most of the firewall and front floor remains, but little else. The firewall appears flat — it’s a panel installed over the original. Time taken? Two weeks.<\/p>\n

“Then it went straight back to my place,” says Mark. There, he mocked up the car’s stance and mechanicals. But most of the car’s assembly occurred in Adelaide. Why so far from his Sydney home? Strangely, it was for convenience.<\/p>\n

MORE<\/span> $\"FAT$ <\/button><\/section>\n

“Through a mate, Trent, I found out about a fully-furnished panel shop that was in-between owners,” reveals Mark. “The old owner had gone but the new owner was yet to move in so it was perfect for me.” Adding to the appeal of Adelaide was the fact that Carofano Motor Trimmers, responsible for most of Marks’ interior and trim work for the past decade, is also based in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

“We only had six weeks, so we had to push as hard as we could,” recalls Mark. “The new owner was moving in then, but it was only seven weeks to the Sydney unveiling at Show Car Superstars. We had 10 blokes on it, almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People were working while other people were sleeping!”<\/p>\n

Ten blokes? That’s not a bad little army. “Carmine [Carofano] was the biggest help, plus his brother David,” Mark says, counting on his fingers. “They did the trim. There was their fibreglasser, Miro Celigoj. Paul Walkom assisted. Angelo Caravaggio dragged the wiring through the car, a mixture of original equipment and custom stuff, and Dean Tassione on machine work and alloy work. Ashley Prosser helped out with rubbing down and general stuff.”<\/p>\n