YOUTH MOVEMENT
NICK ANDREULA IS A MILLENNIAL, BUT AS HIS GORGEOUS HG PREMIER PROVES, HE’S NOT AVERSE TO A LITTLE OLD-SCHOOL CLASS – ESPECIALLY IF IT RUNS LOW 10-SECOND QUARTERS!
He might be young, but Nick Andreula likes to kick it old-school – hence his sweet HG Prem
WH I LE hipster Millennials are snacking on smashed avo bruschetta and bitching about the property market, 23-year-old Nick Andreula is sticking his hard-earned cash into a top-level automotive investment – this staunch, low-10-second HG Premier.
“I grew up around Fords,” Nick says. “I had an XW as my first old-school car because Uncle Donato and Uncle Phil both had one; Dad isn’t really into cars.”
But as teenage Nick began to hone his taste, his heart became firmly set on the clean lines of Holden’s HG Premier. “I like the class and elegance of the early H-series Holdens, which is why I changed teams and bought one.”
The then-18-year-old apprentice hunted for a year before locating a tidy example in Victoria. “I got as many pics as I could from the owner, before my uncle Donato and I went for a look that weekend, bringing the car back with us,” he says.
And while the Prem was already a neat driver, well equipped with a 383ci small-block Chev, Powerglide and nine-inch, Nick wanted more. “I upped the ante with a bigger motor, bigger axles, bigger everything,” he smiles. “I wanted a tough street cruiser, and, as I’m pretty fussy, I knew that the build would escalate. I had a good starting point.”
Over the next four years, Nick poured his wages into the black beast. And for him, it was all about sliding in a stout carby-fed 434ci Chev up front.
Dino Cecere was entrusted to whip up the Prem’s new powerplant. Inside the Dart Sportsman block, Dino’s packed a Scat crank and rods, forged Wiseco pistons and a custom roller cam. Up top is a pair of modified AFR 227cc heads, with a port-matched Super Victor manifold and Quick Fuel 950 carb. A Holley pump feeds the PULP forward from the boot-mounted CDS fuel cell, while sparking the lot is an MSD Pro-billet dizzy and ignition.
Spent gasses zoom through 0.75-inch Pacemaker extractors down a three-inch stainless system and out. A Meziere electric water pump, plumbed to a Ron Davis radiator and fanned by a pair of 10-inch Ron Davis thermos, cools the whole shebang.
“Dino built me a stinker motor, exactly how I wanted it,” Nick says of the proven 670rwhp, 605ft-lb small-block.
Behind it, Nick’s kept the trusty Powerglide, adding a 4800 TCE stall. “Having only two gears is a lot of fun, and the boxes are bulletproof!” he says.
Out back, Carmine and Dino from CDS Engineering & Body Repairs reworked everything to suit the 10-inch Center Line Auto Drags by lengthening the wheel arches and shortening the nine-inch. The diff is packed with a Strange centre, Truetrac, 4.3 gears and 31-spline axles.
Externally, Tom and the team from Pro Paint N Panel straightened and repaired the body before laying on the shiny black PPG coating.
“The car had a few blisters and blemishes to
fix, plus the work I had done on the rear end and tidying the engine bay,” Nick says.
Maintaining that sinister look, the dark hue carries through to the cabin in a tweaked traditional style. Trim By Mooch swathed the original seats, doors and hoodlining in factory vinyl, even retaining the pressed Premier embellishments. The steering wheel is an HG Monaro item with a monster Auto Meter tacho swinging off the side, while a B&M Pro Ratchet bangs it into top gear.
“I didn’t intend to go this insane with the motor and stuff like that,” Nick says, “and I never intended on racing it. Now I’ve raced three times, and I was pretty happy with the final number that it ran – a 10.06@133mph at AIR late last year. I really wanted to crack a nine; it was so close! But the last race meet took its toll on the black paint, so I said to myself I wouldn’t race it anymore.
“Dino gave the engine a quick tune-up last weekend and hinted that I should take it back out, but I dunno. I have a VL Calais Turbo that’s almost finished. That’s the car I’m going to have fun with and run some numbers down the quarter.”
The HG will forthwith be cruised and enjoyed, as Nick basks in the glory of what he’s achieved. You’d have to go a mighty long way to find a prouder Millennial.
“I’m really happy that I took the Premier to the level that it’s at, and I have pride in what I’ve built,” he says. “People are amazed that I have a car of this quality at my age. It’s pretty rewarding. Now I just want to enjoy the Prem and cruise it. Cars can get to the point of stressing you out, so the best thing to do is just enjoy s it – and that’s what I plan on doing.”