ON WITH THE SHOW
HIS FJ HOLDEN TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, MARIO BORG CONSIGNED CHRIS HAS REJUVENATED IT, SHOW UTE TO THE GARAGE. NOW, HIS SON AGAIN READY TO HAUL IN TROPHIES ALL OVER
A family heirloom humpy ute that’s steeped in history, but dressed in contemporary cool
Cof cars – “GTS, hot HRIS Borg’s dad Mario had a lot but it was the FJ ute rods, stuff like that,” Chris says – just the curves, the that always stuck in his mind. “It’s shape and that tilt front,” he says. the roller door in Thumbing the remote in his hand, It makes painfully front of us clatters slowly skyward. decades, I just can’t wait slow progress; after almost three historic show car, part to see this machine again – part modern streeter. Showwheel, then a rolled Ducking down, first I spy a 20-inch next, then the hard tonneau. rear pan. The smoothed tailgate is glory. But the ute looks Finally, there she is in all her Blue Candy in Oct/nov 1991. For a SM, a bit different to when it featured Fire orange, not blue. start, back then it wore Vermillion kid,” Chris says as we circle “It’s been in my family since I was a are of me, my dad and the ute. “My earliest childhood memories Happy memories.” this ute at the Victorian Hot Rod Shows. show scene hard, usually It stands to reason; Mario hit the won a trophy, he’d let me with Chris in tow. “Every time he got ’em all.” collect it,” Chris says. “And I’ve still with great reverence, but It’s clear that Chris regards this FJ him from updating the ute. his ties to the past have not bound that once everyone got to “Even when I was a kid, we agreed do a makeover one day.” know the car, we’d put it away and tilt-front and 327ci Chev Back then, the ute already rocked the four-speed and, believe it or V8, but was backed by a Muncie been sitting for a decade not, drum brakes all ’round. It had he knew it would need work. when Chris received the keys, so the opportunity to upgrade “Instead of just fixing it up, I took that’s the first thing I did everything. Those brakes had to go; when I got the car!” Chris laughs.
under there attacking Not that Chris jumped straight and a head full of ideas. everything with a 13mm spanner very special to me, so it “I’m very meticulous and this car is person.” That person took me around a year to find the right not only handled the turned out to be Peter Bauer, who brakes, but all mechanical areas. a button on the guard, Chris reaches down and presses same on the other side, then moves around and does the With the hot downlights releasing the big flip-front bonnet. engine bay lights up like blazing above, the chrome-laden in classic red for the a disco. The 327-cuber presents shinier the further block and heads, with things getting Edelbrock 650cfm carb north you go, culminating in an shotgun intake. and dominating Assault Racing Products Chris set about looking While it was at Peter’s workshop, body, applying the same for someone who could handle the did with the mechanical fastidious selection process as he making many phone work. After scouring endless websites, Chris settled on Daniel calls and meeting plenty of fellas, in Ballarat. Cassar at Fast Lane Speed Shop grew up in the car “We’re about the same age and both I knew he was the right scene; once I got speaking to him guy,” he says. from Peter’s workshop Chris had the car shifted straight plan. “I told Daniel that it to Fast Lane, along with a simple low to the ground and had to have that nice, clean look, sit have big wheels!” some low, ditching the Daniel’s first task was to create airbag system, with the traditional springs for an Air Ride under the bamboo tray. associated plumbing hidden up in, allowing the ute to sit Three settings were programmed bumps where necessary nice on the road, get over speed and hit the weeds when parked. Showwheels brought The required clearance for the big the front wheelarches challenges, with Daniel pumping the rears to swallow outwards for the 17s and re-profiling looking for telltale the 20s. I circle the car in Chris’s garage The mark of a great bulges or other deviations from stock. FJ sitting alongside, custom job is that, without a standard Daniel’s genius begins. I can’t find where the FJ ends and end and relocated After Fast Lane mini-tubbed the rear the ute home again to the fuel filler to the tray, Chris brought right. Mario had been save for the next step, but all was not FJ with keen interest, watching his son’s progress on the and his health was but had been diagnosed with cancer getting progressively worse. bodywork done but “It sat at home for about three years, time, I got Peter Bauer not painted,” Chris says. “During that On New Year’s Eve back in to do the steering upgrades.” man to talk about the 2013, Chris caught up with his old every time I showed him build. “Dad was okay at the time; spirits up. photos of the build, it brought his – “he was gone.” “New Year’s Day...” – Chris hesitates to finish the build; Mario’s passing steeled Chris’s resolve a custom dash, paint, the ute went back to Fast Lane for we had the fun of sanding and polishing. “That’s when recalling his daily putting it back together,” Chris laughs, his house and driver racking up many miles between
WHEN DAD GAVE ME THE I REMEMBER THE GOOSEBUMPS I GOT THE FIRST TIME WE CAR. I GOT THOSE SAME GOOSEBUMPS I’VE STARTED IT SINCE STARTED IT, AND I GET THEM EVERY TIME