GREY'S ANATOMY

TWO DECADES AGO, TODD BLAZELY HAD TO SELL HIS BELOVED ATLAS GREY VN SS, SO WHEN HE FINALLY SNAGGED ANOTHER ONE, HE WENT ALL-OUT

- JACK HOULIHAN 

TODD Blazely bleeds Holden red. The Yarra Glen-based dad has owned a raft of hot HSVs over the past few decades, alongside a range of collectible Commodores, with 20-odd cars passing through his stable. One personal favorite was an Atlas Grey VN SS, sold in 2000 to finance his first home. It was a fairly wise decision in hindsight, but it left Todd pining for another one. “I still loved the shape and look,” he says. “So I always wanted to build a really nice one that looks standard but isn’t.”

To that end, Todd managed to snap up a solid Atlas Grey SS in 2017. “It had been sitting in a storage yard in Box Hill for about eight years,” he says, “but it was driveable.” He paid just $16,000 for the car – a trivial sum compared with today’s wild SS market.

In Todd’s mind, there was only one bloke to coordinate the job. “I grew up with Mario Pancione from VCM Performance, and he always had Brocks around his place,” he points out. “So I know the efforts he goes to with the finish of a car and the small details that make a build like this standout.”

Like so many other big projects, Todd’s initial plans for the VN were a bit more modest, having set a budget of $80K. “I originally wanted a 355 stroker with good power,” he explains. “Then we decided to tub it to the rails and fit big rears. With all the upgrades, that budget didn’t last too long!”