Panel Show

A QUARTER-CENTURY AGO, MICK COUGHLAN'S DAD ADVISED HIM AGAINST BUYING THIS HG PANEL VAN. THESE DAYS, MICK CATCHES HIM SHOWING IT OFF TO HIS MATES!

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MICK Coughlan says buying this HG panel van nearly 25 years ago was the best decision he ever made, and judging by the evidence on these pages, it's easy to see why. Of course, back then the van wasn't anywhere M close to being the beautifully presented, 540hp marvel it is today, and nor was it ever supposed to be - but you know what they say about one thing leading to another.

Back in 2001, Mick was just 21, fresh off his P-plates, and chafing at the bit to buy his first car. "My mates had Monaros and stuff like that, but I wanted to be different from everybody else and was specifically looking for a wagon or panel van," Mick says. "You don't see many vans around, and I just love the shape of their side profile. As for why an HG, well, I'm pretty biased, but I reckon they're the best of all the vans." Having found an HG van for sale, Mick took his dad, one of his dad's mechanic friends, and an apprentice mechanic mate to go look at it.

"Dad and his mate both thought I'd be better off with something newer and tried talking me out of it," he says. "But I'm a stubborn bastard, and as soon as I spotted it, my mind was made up.

I knew there was no way I was letting anybody else take it home." Mick's newly acquired pano initially served as daily transport, but running costs and general wear and tear eventually led to it becoming more of a casual cruiser. "It was good from afar but far from good," Mick laughs.

By the time 2018 rolled around, Mick had managed to put a few pennies away, and his mate's Monaro project had put a firecracker up his arse to do something more with the HG.

So, he took the van to Robbie Attard's West Gippsland Customs for what he thought would be "a quick respray".

Cue the discovery of major problems.