SHOW ON THE ROAD

THIS GENUINE LC GTR TORANA BUILD MATCHES SHOW-WORTHY LOOKS TO QUALITY ENGINEERING, AND DRIVES LIKE A LATE-MODEL SUPERCAR

- IAIN KELLY

THE line between a show car and a street machine has blurred over the past decade or so. People still build finely detailed, beautifully crafted vehicles to be displayed at shows, but now the engineering underneath them is often focused on being able to enjoy all the hard work, money and time wrapped up in a classic car build - you know, actually driving the thing.

Freshly unveiled at Rockynats 2022, this epic Torana treads that fine line between immaculate Elite show car and ballistic streeter. And it was built off a genuine six-pot '69 LC GTR!

Called BUCKL UP, the Dart LS-powered LC has so far made 730rwhp with just 6psi of boost on pump fuel, though it has been built to withstand 30psi on methanol. But there is so much more going on under the skin than just a stonking powertrain.

"The Torana was brought to my workshop as a standard, driving GTR Torana, with stock wheels and a six-cylinder with triple carbs," says Corey of Street Elite Industries in Brisbane. "It looks like a very simple, tidy LS Torana build, but it is a very complicated car. It was one of the most challenging cars for me to build to get the concept right for the owner, Josh, to meet his requirements of being able to do street driving, go radial racing or roll racing, but with a high-end finish, a classy look and all the mod cons. Not many old-school cars are cruising around with a paddle-shifted 1000hp at the wheels with air conditioning and power steering!"