THOUGH he insists he's not a Mopar nut, Dale Gridley admits he has a soft spot for the AP range of Valiants. "Not that I care, but I copped a lot of flak from the purists with my AP6 ute [SM, Apr '21] for the single-turbo LS," he laughs. "They love this one because it's got a Hemi!"
Dale is a mechanical fitter by day, and his work regularly sees him cruising around country Queensland. This AP5 sedan cropped up while he was in Chinchilla, having been parked up in an open shed since 1986. "It was missing the grille in the photos, and I didn't pay much attention to the bonnet and guards, so I first thought it was an AP6," he says. "When I found out it was an AP5, I didn't really want it as much!" An agreed price of $3000 swayed Dale back toward buying the Val, which proved to be dry as hell for an unrestored, 60-year-old survivor.
"It's never had a hard hit, the inner guards are perfectly straight, and what you see is the original paint from 1963," Dale says. He gave the body a quick dust-off before hitting it with a coat of Penetrol to seal in the flavour, and that's about as far as the external bodywork goes. "I was on the piss one day and thought I'd do one guard; that turned into doing the whole car," he says. "I didn't want it to get any worse, but I didn't want to change the look. It does bring the colour up a bit, but it's still flat. I want to enter it in Top Paint at every car show I can, just to watch the judges' faces!"
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Street Machine Australia.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Street Machine Australia.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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
ANIKA HODGES
THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8
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
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE
FULLY UTILISED
HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR
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
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
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!
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
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
