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.
This story is from the January 2021 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
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This story is from the January 2021 edition of Street Machine Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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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
