Driven Not Hidden

Photos by Chris Sorgsepp & Eric Tang

Classic muscle cars should be built to be driven. We love seeing the finest examples out on the street, so here's a compilation of iconic machines doing what they do best. Above is Joe Maroun’s genuine and very original L34 Torana and Andrew Papalia’s fully restored Barbados Green SL/R 5000. Joe has owned and still does own some very fine examples of the hot L34 Torana including this beautifully preserved Mandarin Red example while Anthony’s Barbados Green car has been fully restored while giving the car the full L34 treatment.

Roy Spagnolo’s beautifully restored True Blue XY GT replica. Roy had this car built after spending a squillion dollars on the restoration of his genuine XY GT and had had it fitted with the luxury of air conditioning while it sings to the beat of a hot 393ci Cleveland stroker and Top Loader 4-speed.

Greg & Kim Thackray’s HQ Monaro GTS 350 coupe. Greg has owned many Monaros over the years however when he decided to restore this Chrome Yellow example he decided to fit it with just about every option that was available at the time including power steering, air conditioning and electric windows to name a few.

Stefano Nicotra’s 1976 LX Torana SL/R 5000. Looking around Stefano’s tough looking LX SL/R 5000 you would think that it would be relegated to the show circuit and trailered everywhere however nothing could be further from the truth. Stefano drives this car everywhere and can destroy the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds.

Ray Borg’s 1976 LXS SS Torana hatch. When Ray Borg was a young fella he put a deposit down on a brand new SS Torana hatch until his dad squashed those dreams and the new Torana was lost. Years later Ray decided to rekindle the flame and build himself the Torana of his dreams and the end result is this Absinth Yellow SS hatch.

Craig Agius’ LJ GTR Torana. Craig Agius bought this genuine LJ GTR as a project many years ago with the intention of restoring it into a cool street car. Unfortunately many years past without a spanner being turned however that all changed when Craig got stuck into it and transformed the untidy two door into a cool coupe complete with a hot triple SU fed six cylinder.

Outer West Customs HG GTS Monaro. The boys at Outer West Customs do not muck around when it comes to making things happen, with this HG GTS Monaro taking just 22 days to completely transform from left for dead relic to the cool cruiser you see before you!

Darren Blackman’s Blaze Blue XB GT coupe. Only four XB GT Falcons were built in the colour of Blaze Blue and Darren Blackman is lucky enough to own one of them which has survived the years in largely untouched condition and looks superb rolling on a set of 15x8 inch and 15x10 inch Hotwire wheels.

Mark Privett’s 1974 327ci Chevy powered LH Torana. When Mark Privett wanted to re-live his younger days of the ‘90s he started by restoring his 327ci Chevy powered Torana as if it were back in the day. Recaro seats, roll cage and a drop tank are all part of what makes this car a standout.

Louie’s genuine Magenta 1971 R/T E38 Charger. Louie has been a fan of the Charger for many years and when he stumbled across this genuine R/T E38 with the desirable Track Pack option he just had to have it. The car was in need of a lot of work and over the years Louie restored it to what you see here.

Bruce and Laura Colbey’s genuine LJ Torana GTR XU-1. Bruce and Laura Colbey rescued this genuine LJ GTR XU-1 in the rare colour of Strike Me Pink from a barn in country New South Wales and had it restored back to as new condition as if it was just driven off the showroom floor.

Rod Harris’s Mercury Silver R/T E49 replica. Rod Harris has always loved the style of the R/T Chargers and once he came across a decent Charger shell he wasted no time in transforming it into a cool Mercury Silver E49 replica complete with a stove hot 265ci Hemi six with triple 45mm Webers.

Kevin Bezzina’s Wild Violet XY GT replica. Many of us would kill for a cool XY GT however with prices reaching into six figures it generally puts them way out of our reach. Kevin Bezzina went for the next best thing, with this Wild Violet replica fitted with a tough 351ci Cleveland V8.

Damian Laduska’s 308ci powered LJ GTR XU-1 replica. From the outside Damian’s Torana looks like a nicely restored LJ GTR XU-1 however under the bonnet lives a tough 308ci Holden V8 with a Turbo 350 auto and Ford 9-Inch diff which adds up to one very lethal package.

Jeremy and Joe Gasperov’s 1977 LX Torana A9X. Joe Gasperov had always wanted to build himself a tough Torana just like he would have done back in the ‘80s. As you can see he has done just that, with this Barbados Green beauty you see right here that cruises with the assistance of a 355ci stroker and a Ford Top Loader 4-speed gearbox.

Chris Johnson’s LX Torana A9X hatch. When Chris was a 17 year old car mad rev head he bought this ex Group C A9X Torana shell and spent the next few years building it into the car of his dreams and all these years later he has managed to hold onto it while clocking up thousands of kilometres enjoying his tough Torana.

Gavin Sanna’s HX LE coupe. When real estate agent Gavin Sanna wants to relax he likes nothing more than loading his family into his rare 1976 HX LE coupe and going for a cruise in his piece of 1970s Aussie muscle.

Bobby Mihaljevic’s Barbados Green L34 and Lazo Rostankov’s LH SL/R Torana. There is a friendly rivalry between Bobby and Lazo as to who has the toughest Torana, with each of them reckoning they wear the crown. We can’t decide between the pair but one thing is for sure, these boys are not afraid to use their cars like they were intended.

John Udovicic’s Genuine 351ci XC Cobra. When John purchased this Cobra back in 1984 he had himself one cool cruiser and all these years later the car looks better than ever and tougher than hell rolling on huge Simmons wheels while being powered by a tough 351ci Cleveland V8.

Craig Alderson’s Tangerine orange LC XU-1 Torana and Clay Kirk’s Indy Orange LC GTR. Craig and Clay’s cars as you can see are two awesome examples of the General’s finest. While Craig’s XU-1 is fitted with a triple Weber fed Holden six, Clay runs modern electronic fuel injection.