New Heights
Street Machine Magazine|January 2021
Dean Rickard’s ht monaro is no small feat of custom building excellence
Iain Kelly
New Heights

Taking an iconic Aussie classic car and enhancing it while simultaneously retaining the essence of its style is a Herculean task. It requires a balanced eye, plenty of grey matter, huge amounts of talent and drive, and a big pair of stones.

Melbourne’s Dean Rickard knew this when he started the genre-shifting build of his HT Monaro back in 2016. It’s a car so finely detailed and thoroughly re-engineered that it threatens to redefine what we consider a street car. The beautiful finish means it can slay at shows, but it is built to be driven long distances like a pro tourer, and yet it looks like a mildly modified classic.

“I had an HT Premier that I had done up, but it wasn’t quite as good as what I wanted,” Dean says. “I started looking through Street Machine for who was building the best cars and saw Down Town Kustoms’ FC ute and figured that was along the lines of what I wanted, which was to have an HT Monaro but to update it. I wanted to take the original style but modernise it.”

After deciding the cherry six-banger, three-on-the-tree HT Monaro was too clean to cut up, Dean found a tatty 307ci GTS in Albury that would make a perfect base for the build, and dragged it up to Taree for DTK to take a look at.

“The focus of the build was to make it 100 per cent HT Monaro but modernised and updated, without losing the flavour and style the HT Monaro has,” says Down Town boss Graeme Brewer. “Every single piece, no matter where or what it was, was removed and studied so we could modernise it, and that led to a huge amount of work.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2021 من Street Machine Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2021 من Street Machine Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من STREET MACHINE MAGAZINE مشاهدة الكل
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Street Machine Australia

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE

time-read
4 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
ANIKA HODGES
Street Machine Australia

ANIKA HODGES

THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8

time-read
2 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
STAGE FRIGHT
Street Machine Australia

STAGE FRIGHT

IT TOOK OWEN SCOTT MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO BUILD A TROPHY-WINING, 600HP EH HOLDEN UTE THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME

time-read
3 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
Street Machine Australia

THE Ummmal SUSPECT

FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE

time-read
4 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
FULLY UTILISED
Street Machine Australia

FULLY UTILISED

HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR

time-read
4 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Street Machine Australia

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE

time-read
4 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
PEOPLE POWER
Street Machine Australia

PEOPLE POWER

WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT 36 YEARS OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS - AND MOST DEMOCRATICALLY AWARDED - HONOUR IN OUR SPORT: STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR

time-read
3 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM
Street Machine Australia

OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM

STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE IS ALREADY A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME, BUT WHAT CAR EVENT CAN'T BE MADE EVEN BETTER BY ADDING A BURNOUT COMP? INTRODUCING OUR INAUGURAL RODS OUT!

time-read
3 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
BAD TO THE BONE
Street Machine Australia

BAD TO THE BONE

THANKS TO HIS SON, ANDY, THE LATE MARIO COLALILLO’S 39 PLYMOUTH COUPE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AND STILL ONE OF THE BADDEST HOT RODS IN THE COUNTRY

time-read
5 mins  |
Yearbook 2024
THE CHALLENGE IS REAL
Street Machine Australia

THE CHALLENGE IS REAL

FROM TRACK DRAMAS TO SOARING TEMPERATURES, DRAG CHALLENGE 2024 THREW US SOME OF ITS TOUGHEST TESTS YET, BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE QUICKEST TIMES THE EVENT HAS EVER SEEN

time-read
10+ mins  |
Yearbook 2024