HAMMER TIME
I THOUGHT you may be interested to know some of the story of Hammered Down (SM, Dec ’83/Jan ’84) and where it’s been for the past 33 years! As you can see from the pics, the story is a sad one.
As a 16-year-old lad living in Berri, SA, I was looking to buy my first car. Dad thought we should head down to Adelaide for the 1984 Hot Rod & Street Machine Spectacular. This awesome black HD Holden was on display there, and for sale, and by the next weekend I was the proud new owner of a street machine.
Our family moved to Mt Gambier in 1985 and I sold the HD to my brother in 1986. I believe it had a few other owners until 1991 when it was taken off the road in readiness for paint and mods etc. A relationship breakdown saw the HD again sold and it was stored in a farm shed at Glencoe, not far from Mt Gambier.
Around 2011 I was living in Renmark, SA and started to wonder whatever happened to my first car. My brother told me where he thought the HD might be located. After many calls and dead ends I finally got the bloke on the phone and arranged a catch-up/inspection. Sadly the HD was in poor condition, and the owner was undecided on whether to sell it.
It took until early February 2014 to seal the deal, but I finally have the HD back in my ownership. I’m planning to restore the car back to her former glory; the intention is to go with the 80s street machine style with as many period-correct features as possible.
The original builder of the HD was Gavin Poulish [otherwise known as Dr Chop, who went on to chop a heap of early Holden utes – Ed.]. I could go on and on about how clever Gavin was with many features/details of this budget early-80s build. Coincidentally he is also a resident of Renmark, and a few weeks ago we had a reunion and Gavin saw the HD for the first time since 1985!
Keep up the great work with the mag.