Last Saturday hosted the first Unique Cars and Coffee at our new Melbourne digs. Hosted by our sister Meg, we went for a ride.
We’re glad we did, because the turnout was absolutely fantastic, with all sorts of classics and moderns making for a relaxing morning. We can’t wait for another one to go, but for now here’s the official lowdown. Sm Unique cars and quite an awards ceremony.
Excellent 80’s style LX Torana hatch
88
Heath van der Waerden claimed a good place in his LPG-huffing, 383-holden powered Torana hatch. “It was in pieces this morning,” he laughed. The LX is built to run a modified UC Sunbird, with a TKO 600′ box, negative camber on both ends, and about 1300 lighter hulls—even the bellhousing has been stripped of unnecessary metal.
88
The orange bay pairs well with the Torana Fashion Pack material found in the Recaro pews.
The most polarizing XT wagon
88
James Mackie first came to our attention as the pilot of the XYYNOT, a blown-up LS-swapped XY Falcon street-legal drift car that’s been breaking the internet for years now.
88
His other classic Falcon is the XT wagon he calls Patsy, which he also converted to an LS to help haul the family caravan – and to the further dismay of the Ford folks.
Wild Pomi Go Kart
88
Steve’s ’61 Mini seems to draw the biggest crowds, and for good reason. It runs the mid-mounted turbo EJ25 from the 2010 Subaru WRX, which powers the rear wheels via a torque-sensing LSD. Tipping the scales at just 900kg, 190rwkW makes it a lot of fun. It uses MX5-spec coilovers and lower brakes, and custom fabbed subframes. “I basically wanted it to look like a current-day car,” Steve says of the 2004 Mini’s panoramic sunroof and rear wing, and 15-inch wheels in fabbed arches.
88
Other sweet details include the fan-forced intercooler ducting and the fact that Steve handled the entire build himself, including the paint.
The suspension award was reconstituted.
88
KustomKraft sticker mogul Dave Green recently went to Mopar Sunday in his left-hook Dodge Dart with Scotty, but broke his front suspension on flood-damaged roads. Dart is back in action, looking relatively clean-skinned this time.
Angry niche HSV
88
To help wake up everyone in attendance, Danny Howe rolled in his very clean TBS 8/71-blow VN SV89. In the bay is an iron-block 403 Cub LS from Pro Race Engines with a big and ugly injector hat, paired with a T400 auto.
88
The rear end features a tub job and four-link to handle 15×10 welds and 325/50 tires, all hung to a BorgWarner diff with bullet axles.
Hottest Staff Exclusive
88
In the cleanliness stakes, webmaster Mary Lee puts the rest of us to shame with her flawless, genuine VC bro.
88
Mary has had the manual, one of 500 animals, for about five years, and is always a joy to see.
The best-revived XE Fairmont
88
A few feature cars came out to play. Including Vicky Williams’ Clio-powered XE Ghia, as featured in our June ’22 mag. The sweet sedan suffered a garage fire in 2016 before undergoing a painstaking rebuild.
Previously finished in a Ford blueprint, Vicky drew inspiration for a new custom paint job of burnt-out car green, designed by George Lyras.
Top DIY Charger
88
Adrian Romandini’s 528ci ’69 Charger (Sm, October ’22) has been a regular on the Melbourne met scene since ending earlier this year and wowing at MotorEx. Adrian handled stacks of Hemi-inspired stompers himself, learning as he went.