Summernats Spotlight: Justin's Turbo 1976 Ford Landau

Justin has always had a deep love affair for blue oval machinery that dates back to when he was just 18 with his very first car - a Ford XP Coupe. Growing up in a family who also had a passion for cars, it’s no surprise to see Justin caught the car bug so early. As a young fella, Justin can remember seeing some of the older blokes in his hometown playing around and modifying cars, and always dreamt of one day building something wild and outlandish of his own. After exploring a bunch of different cars over the years, Justin was drawn back to his Ford roots and dove head first into a 17-year build journey with his 1976 Ford Landau ‘NVRDUN’.

Inspiring the next generation was really at the top of the list for building the car Justin told us. “I’ve always wanted to build something pretty different, something that potentially can inspire the next generation of car enthusiasts who might go on to do the same. I was inspired as a young guy by the older people around me - so hopefully I can be like that to someone that sees this."

The car was originally bought off an elderly woman who owned the car from new, but had the big Ford coupe parked up in a worse for wear condition in her carport. Justin says she wasn’t that keen on letting it go, but after hearing Justin’s plans on fully restoring the car, she agreed to let it go.

Justin wasted no time in embarking on a mega resto’ project that has spanned the last 17 years, stripping the car back to bare metal, and getting stuck into building something pretty wild.

The big Ford is now powered by a pretty hefty 393 Clevo combination, with a precision Turbo strapped to the side for some extra boost (and let's be real, who doesn't love some forced induction noises), while the electronic fuel-injection is delivered by a Holley system. It’s paired up to a C10 transmission with a four-grand high stall and a Ford 9” differential in the rear. Justin says it’s turned out to be a pretty mad car to drive, especially with the fully air-bagged suspension system.

Justin’s wife had one condition when talking about the build - and that was that she got to pick the colour. The colour she picked was a custom PPG mix, and while Justin wasn’t so sure of the colour to begin with, he now wouldn’t change it for the world. Justin’s wife was also pretty heavily involved in the build process, and did much of the interior trim of the car herself - and we reckon she did a bloody good job of it!

The car sits on some pretty epic Billet Specialties wheels, with 17x7 on the front and 17x9 up the back, tucked up underneath those big Ford guards. The car is built up to a pretty trick elite standard, and as you’d imagine with the plates ‘NVRDUN’ Justin still has some things he’d like to tick off on the car.

It was great to catch up with Justin at Street Machine Summernats 35 and have a chat, so check out the video below and be sure to subscribe to the Performance Garage YouTube channel for more content on the way!