PROJECT cars scar your hands, cause sleepless nights, push your patience and stress-test your bank account like little else in life. But they can also bring amazing, like-minded people together, and the satisfaction of overcoming a difficult automotive problem is a hit of dopamine you can’t buy in a back alley.
Cars have been a life-long passion for Sydney’s Michelle White, culminating in the five-year build of her beloved HZ Holden. Unveiled at Summernats 34, Michelle’s blown, Elite-level streeter is a car she has envisioned since her formative years.
“I’ve been into cars since I was about 14 years old,” Michelle says. “There was a guy down the end of my street with an EJ wagon. He’d be out the front every Saturday working on it or washing it. His parents were friends with my grandparents, so we hung out a lot.”
Michelle found early love with a tough 350 Chev-powered HQ Statesman, and while that toughie met its end in the hands of an ex-boyfriend, it lit a fire in her for the big-boned H-series Holdens.
“Holdens were the cars I liked from a young age,” she says. “When I got divorced, I decided it was time to get another HQ Statesman, but a friend of mine told me about this HZ at Punchbowl Auto Wreckers. It had a 253 and Trimatic, the original brown interior and gold paint. As time went on, I did things to it like putting in a 308 after I blew up the 253 racing it at Eastern Creek.”
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ROYAL CARRIAGE
BENNY ROYAL TOOK A FAMILY HEIRLOOM TOYOTA CORONA, SHOVED A 1JZ IN IT AND HEADED OFF FOR FIVE DAYS OF DRAG-AND-DRIVE
DEBUT TOUR
WITH A SCREAMING HOLDEN SIX, DEAN TROUNSON'S HOME-COOKED HR STEERS WITH THE BEST OF 'EM
FULLY FRANKED
A SNEAKY 670 HORSES OF FRANK MARCHESE POWER MAKES ROB GORGIEVSKI'S CONCOURS XW A PROPER TREAT
NOMADIC LIFESTYLE
DON'T BE FOOLED BY ITS DEMURE APPEARANCE THIS '57 CHEVY NOMAD IS A RAUNCHY RESTOMOD PACKING MODERN MUMBO
PERFECT 10 '!!!!
THE SYDNEY HOT ROD & CUSTOM AUTO EXPO TURNS 10
VAN WILDER
PETER MARRIOTT BUILT THIS TOUGH, 350 CHEV-POWERED HK PANEL VAN IN TRIBUTE TO THE LONG-LOST HT VAN OF HIS YOUTH
EXPRESS DELIVERY
IF YOU'VE ever been to the Bright Rod Run (and you damn well should've), odds are you've seen Joel Beatson lapping in an early Falcon.
RED HOT & BLUE
A REBORN PROGM8 SHOOTS FOR THE TITLE OF AUSTRALIA'S BEST SHOW-AND-GO COMMODORE
PEOPLE LIKE US
WHEN Michael Gonzalez isn't busy making eight-second passes in CHOCTOP, his street-driven, LSA-fed VC Commodore, or cruising one of the many other cars in his collection, he can be found managing Springmount Raceway, home to Far North Queensland's biggest horsepower hoedown, Northern Nats (see p. 48 for full feature).
DRIVING INNOVATION
EVER WISH YOU COULD HAVE A BRAND-NEW VERSION OF AN ICONIC 1970s AUSSIE MUSCLE CAR, FULL OF THE LATEST TECH? DRIVE SOUTH IS WORKING TO MAKE THAT A REALITY