1976 LX TORANA

IT WAS ORIGINALLY a four-cylinder. I bought it as a rolling shell that had a six in it, a few years ago. A good friend of mine, Andrew from Burringbar Smash & Restoration sourced the car for me.

I’d been looking for three years and wanted a good roller with the potential to turn it into what you see now. So rust was a big thing.

He rated it a seven out of 10. The beaver panels and sills were renewed, but the boot and floors were really good. We took it back to bare metal , then built up the body.

I got a guy called Dave McLean – he’s 70 and is based in Cessnock – to build the motor for me. I said I just wanted a streeter, something that idles but goes well. It has a stage 2 cam in it and I’ve kept it as a 308. Keeping the size down made it easier to register. On the dyno it does 195kW at the wheels – that’s plenty.

Everything on it is either new or has been refurbished.

I took it to a father and son team at Extreme Custom Engineering in Brisbane. They did a lot of the fit-out, such as installing the engine, Wilwood disc brakes, drop tank and making up fluid lines.

Then it went back to the panel shop for final spray.

Darren from Stitched Up Custom Trim on the Central Coast did the interior for me. It’s done in leather. I tried to keep it modern muscle, without going overboard. I was able to do that because the host car wasn’t anything special.

That meant I could put 17-inch Simmons on it, but try to keep some of the feel of the era.

It took three years and a lot of painstaking work. I’ll never do another. I’ve always loved cars and this one stays in the family, but it’s the last one I do.

Why a Torana? I’m a Holden man. As kids we used to have LJs and LCs.