CHRISTY MCGILL
> CRANBOURNE NORTH, VICTORIA
CHRISTY Mcgill is a Holden devotee from way back, having owned a raft of GM-H models before settling on this ’84 VK Berlina. Her chosen ride will be put to a particularly sweet use in a few months when she marries her fiancé Matt in true Holden style.
Where’d the Holden love start?
I grew up around cars, as my dad is a mechanic. He had so many cars – he was always buying them, doing them up and then selling them. During my early teens he had a white VK and my uncle had a copper one very similar to mine; that’s when I knew I wanted a Commodore.
Tell us about some of your other Lionbadged rides.
I bought an LX Torana when I was 16 years old. I sold it about a year later, due to rust, which made room for my first VK. After that I bought an Hsv-enhanced VS Statesman, before finally buying my ’84 VK Berlina.
How long have you had this VK?
A decade in July. It belonged to Aaron, a friend of mine, and was stolen from him only to be recovered a few months later. He gave me the opportunity to buy it, as he knew I’d always liked it. So I brought it back to life, fixing the broken window, damaged passenger door and damaged boot lock. It’s since been used as Aaron’s wedding car. It was his first car, so it was an honour to let him use the car on his big day.
What’s it running?
I bought it with a stock injected five-litre, then added a manualised TH700 and 4200rpm converter with a B&M shifter. And behind that is a Borgwarner diff with 3.9 gears.
So have you done any other mods?
About four years ago my fiancé Matt rebuilt the motor, adding a bigger cam; I just wanted something that sounded fat. So he added a Clive cam – 236/236, 0.526 lift, 108° LSA – and ported heads, and it’s now good for 202rwkw. He also cleaned up the engine bay, adding the catch can, and my best mate Scott helped by tidying the wiring and moving the fuse box under the dash. I’ve also added the bonnet scoop, lowered it and bolted on the 19-inch HDT Aeros. My goal was a nice cruiser with a factory look. We use Matt’s car FSTGMH for drag racing and most events – it’s a blown Ls-powered VK (SM
LSX Tuner #1).
Matt’s a good influence, then?
Yeah, I met Matt 14 years ago when I was 17 years old, and he’s probably the most carobsessed person you could ever meet. We get married in August and both of our VKS are the wedding cars; I’ll arrive in mine and Matt in his. I had a good look through the Street
Machine Facebook wedding photos article and I got some great ideas of photos that we can set up. Thanks to Matt (Slim), Scott, Brent, Fatty, and Errol from EFI Dynamics for their help.