IRON MAIDEN
ORANGE, NSW
THERE’S no missing this striking purple HT Premier, proudly owned by Holden lover Kim Perry. Although the Prem was in a bit of a state when she bought it, Kim and hubby Michael have since lovingly built it into a reliable yet eyecatching cruiser.
Sweet HT! Tell us why you chose it.
About four years ago I had a VE SS and I wanted something more old-school. I wanted a cool old Holden to drive around in, more of a muscle car. So when I came across the HT Premier I really liked it.
What condition was it in?
It was pretty rough, with an RB30 motor in it that wasn’t running. They’d also cut the floors to fit the motor. We took the motor out and Michael replaced the floors and fixed all the rust in the beaver panel, lower quarters, boot floor, spare wheel well, subframe and window channels. Because there were so many major repairs, we ended up doing a full restoration on the car.
That’s huge. Tell us about the resto.
We brought it down to a bare shell and had it all sandblasted. We then replaced almost everything with brand new parts and had the chrome redone. Michael also added a Monaro bonnet, then Josh at Orange Body Works painted it. I chose the VE Commodore Morpheus Purple, as I really liked it and at least it’s a factory Holden colour. For the interior I went with classic black, buying it all from Winner Products. I used their pre-made cover to do the seats myself, and I did it all with pliers instead of the proper hog clip tool.
Looks like there’s a sneaky LS in there, too.
We love LS engines. We have a VY Senator and I had a VZ SS ute; I loved the sound of them both. My LS1 has been built and mildly worked. We then fitted it ourselves along with the 4L60E trans, VH Commodore diff and disc brakes. Michael had previous experience with this sort of thing, as he built his ’48 Chevy pick-up with an injected fivelitre.
Have you always been into cars?
I grew up around cars. My Dad has always been a bit of a revhead really. He’s a retired mechanic and always loved old cars, including owing a few Monaros when he was younger. My brother and I would watch Dad in the shed all the time; he does a bit of airbrushing too. I later did signwriting through TAFE and learnt airbrushing too. I still do some signs now, but I have been a tattoo artist for the past 10 years.
Does the HT get much drive time?
There’s a baby seat in the back for our sevenmonth-old son, so we recently took the HT to a Bathurst car show, and we also go along to All Holden Day and other shows like that. Michael is the vice-president of the Southern Cross Street Cruisers, so I tag around with the club too.
ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO I HAD A VE SS AND I WANTED SOMETHING MORE OLD-SCHOOL; MORE OF A MUSCLE CAR