This Iconic 4x4 Personality Is An Aussie Muscle Car Collector

Perhaps better known for his off-road exploits in Toyota Landcruisers of various vintages, Shaun Whale of 4WD 24/7 has outed himself as a muscle car fan, recently becoming the proud owner of a particularly beautiful Datona Bronze Holden HT Bathurst Monaro.

In fact, not only has Shauno acquired the car, he’s also enlisted the services of the Coburn brothers at Exclusive Customs on the Gold Coast to restore the car. Jason and Glenn Coburn have decades of experience in the restoration and refinishing arena, with many of the nation’s top show cars bearing their handiwork.

“Rumour has it this vehicle might be the first Bathurst Monaro. Apparently it was a giveaway car through one of the car magazines back in the day,” explains Jason Coburn of the car’s amazing heritage.

“Shaun was initially debating whether or not to throw a tough engine in this one, but he’s got another Aussie muscle car getting a built engine so this one will be a proper matching numbers resto’, including the original matching numbers engine,” he continues.

Mind you, the car doesn’t look like this at the moment! The boys have already stripped and blasted the HT, revealing a sordid history of previous repairs. “It’s had some bodgy repairs over the years, but instead of repairing the quarters any more we’ve removed them and we’ll replace them with brand new quarters, from the original GMH stamping,” continues Jason of the Coburn’s notoriously fastidious attention to detail.

The Coburns relocated from their previous hometown of Sydney to the Gold Coast four years ago, and are now solely focussed on high quality restoration work, custom painting and complete vehicle build management. Their consistently high quality regularly attracts clients like 888 Racing, for whom the crew painted the brand new race car chassis, and even Aussie off-road racer Toby Price who is tasking the team with building him a tough street car, too.