If was to tell you that this stunning HQ Monaro LS had been the subject of a full nut and bolt restoration, you'd have no real reasons to doubt me. Hell, if I woke you up from a coma and told you that we'd tumbled down a black-hole and re-emerged into 1972, seeing this car would help you make the leap.
But get this: This car has not been off the road for months while it was restored, nor has it even had the engine removed or, indeed, the engine pulled apart. The closest it's ever been to a rotisserie is when the owner, Greg Thompson, buys a charcoal chook for dinner on the way home.
Now, I should explain that Greg is a car detailer by trade. Prior to that, he was working in the high-end side of a very techy industry, so he knows a thing or two about devils and details. But even before he switched careers a handful of years ago, he had always been into the Nth-degree end of making cars look sharp.
"I'd been detailing cars for about 40 years, but I decided to go full time after Covid convinced me I wasn't going back to the real world," he tells me as we watch the sun break though the clouds and absolutely ignite the metal-flake in the LS' Chateau Mauve panels. "Now, I just go around polishing GTs, Monaros, Chargers and Toranas."
A Holden man through and through, Greg had already restored an HQ GTS four-door, complete with 308 and Trimatic box. But the urge to own a coupe was a strong one and, eventually, he found what he was looking for.
Or maybe it found him, we don't really know.
Either way, the HQ's back-story is a ripper and involves being purchased brand-new in 1972 by a lady who lived on Melbourne's fringe where the roads were still mainly gravel and winter-time mud was as much a part of living there as bushfires were in the summer.
Denne historien er fra Issue 493-utgaven av Unique Cars.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 493-utgaven av Unique Cars.
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
V8 MATES
THIS HOLDEN SL/R 5000 BUILD WAS THE CATALYST FOR A GREAT FRIENDSHIP
ICE ICE BABY
TAKE ONE VOLKSY FASTY AND ADD A SUBY FLAT FOUR ... SIMPLE
LOST & FOUND!
THEY THINK THEY MIGHT HAVE FOUND AMELIA EARHART'S PLANE...WE ALREADY HAVE HER CAR!
CAB CHARGE
WHEN IS AN EX-TAXI NOT AN EX-TAXI? WHEN IT'S A FORMER WEDDING-CAR. THIS RARE EBONY BLACK VG VALIANT WAS FOUND BY SHEER LUCK
CBX1000
HONDA'S BIG-SIX TOURER IS A COMPELLING RIDE
1967 FORD MUSTANG FLASHBACK
THIS 1967 MUSTANG MIGHT LOOK LIKE ANOTHER BULLITT TRIBUTE, BUT WHAT LIES UNDERNEATH IS NO ORDINARY MUSTANG
HONDA S2000 SPORTS
THERE ARE numerous contenders for the title of 'World's Best Four Cylinder Engine' and Honda's F20C, twin overhead cam powerhouse must be right near the top of the list.
FORD ESCORT 1970-80
FORD VERY nearly turned the Japanese small-car tide with its conservative but groundbreaking Escort.
ROLLING BACK THE FEARS
HYBRIDS AND EVS ARE BECOMMING MORE POPULAR, BUT A RECENT RETHINK SEES ICE ENGINES, THEREFORE CLASSIC CARS, SET TO ROLL ON FOR MANY YEARS TO COME
SUPERCAT ON THE PROWL
TWR HAS revealed its limited edition Supercat, with a price tag of $428,000 plus taxes, with deliveries to commence late 2024.