TWO TO TANGO

HAVING BUILT ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S BEST-REMEMBERED EH HOLDENS IN THE 70s, BOB GRAMBAU HAS BURST BACK ONTO THE SCENE WITH A MOUTHWATERING '34 FORD COUPE

- CRAIG PARKER

AFFECTIONATELY known as 'Grumpy' - which is more to do with the demeanour of his cars than his personal temperament - Bob Grambau didn't get the memo that you're meant to take it easy in retirement. Following a complete revamp of his iconic EH Holden (SM, Apr-May '82 and Oct-Nov '87) in 2015, Bob claimed he was hanging up his boots for good. Soon enough, however, the 73-year-old revhead was soon in the thick of a new build: the stunning, elite-level '34 Ford you see on these pages.

But the car that started it all for Bob is his EH Holden, also known as GRUMPY. With its tough-as-nails, tunnel-rammed small-block, impressive quarter-mile times and showstopping presentation, it's little wonder that the EH is one of the more fondly recalled Aussie street machines of the 70s and 80s. And as you can see, it's now been extensively modernised.

Bob was a 17-year-old apprentice mechanic when he purchased the car in 1969, and it's been a beloved member of the Grambau family ever since. “It was my first car; I drove it everywhere,” Bob says. “Maureen and I got married in it; I drove both my son and daughter to their weddings in it as well.”

Starting life as a green stocker, the EH was initially upgraded with a strong 179 bored out to 186ci, backed with an Aussie four-speed. But as Bob began racing it with increasing regularity at Calder Park, he wanted his Holden to be more competitive. So, he and his fitter-and-turner old man dropped in a 350 Chev, along with an M21 Muncie four-speed and narrowed Pontiac 4.11:1 diff, which his dad also machined custom axles for. They completed the conversion in the family's single-car garage!