DIANE ABED

2011 VE COMMODORE

“THIS is my VE II SS-V wagon, BWITCH. It runs a Harrop OTR cold-air intake; Harrop FDFI 2300 supercharger; ZL1 fuel pump; hydraulic-roller cam; tie-bar lifters; ceramic-coated Hurricane headers (17/8-inch primaries); twin three-inch mild-steel exhaust; Hurricane mufflers and cats; Harrop Ultimate brake kit (381mm front, 365mm rear); Harrop braided lines and Harrop by KW Street Comfort coil-overs. Wheels are 20-inch Koya SF12S with Nitto Invo tyres. The custom House of Kolor candy paint was laid on by Innov8ive Customs, who went above and beyond to help me achieve the amazing colour, and they also helped paint some interior pieces that I think really make it pop. Once the paintwork was all completed, I decided that the interior needed some TLC, so I paid a visit to Alex at Coast Custom Trim, who decked it out in bespoke full-leather upholstery (black with blue stitching), GTS front seats with digital stitch inserts (honeycomb stitch), matching leather honeycomb door trims and ‘BWITCH’ stitched floor mats. The car has also spent quite a bit of time at Speedtech, where Patrick has been giving her a lot of love and attention – the running joke is that it’s called the Speedtech Wagon and Patrick just lets me borrow it from time to time! I would not have been able to do any of this without the help and support of Pat, as he has been extremely kind and helpful. I get stuck staring at her when she is sitting in the garage, and I also love the reactions she gets when we’re out driving.” Photos: Ben Hosking

“I FOUND my LX Torana at the back of an old car yard in Toowoomba in 2008, and I spent the next five years rebuilding it. I’d always wanted a Torana ever since I saw Peter Brock win the 1979 Bathurst 1000. The car started life as a Royal Plum/white-roofed 173ci six-banger with a Trimatic. Changing the colour was an easy decision; as an eight-year-old lad, I saw an HG Monaro in Indy Orange, and from that moment on I knew I was going to paint a car that colour one day. I then spent many late nights and holidays to complete all the rust repair and bodywork, before passing the final sand-down to a panel shop. For the drivetrain, I sought the help of my good mate Scott Mcnaught to graft a Borgwarner diff into place, and up the front we rebuilt a Holden injected 5.0-litre in the shed – special thanks to another mate, Griffo at All Torque Engineering, for the machine work. I had Windscreen Works fit all the glass, and the interior is finished in A9X black with a custom dash by Lea Mccarroll of Toowoomba. The full custom exhaust consists of 1¾-inch primaries into a 2½-inch stainlesssteel system. She stops on HQ front discs and VN Commodore rear discs and rolls on Weld RTS rims, which give the car a great stance. She’s definitely a driven-not-hidden car, as I and my partner Janeen take the kids cruising most weekends to local car shows, downtown trips and coffee shop runs. I’m also building a 355 stroker at the moment and should be ready to fit it early next year.” Photos: Rick Welch