ZESTY ORANGE

PAUL CAMILLERI’S 550HP LX TORANA IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE ‘QUICK TIDY-UPS’ THAT GOT MORE THAN A LITTLE OUT OF HAND – AND DON’T WE LOVE IT!

- BORIS VISKOVIC

IF YOU’RE worried that the youngsters of today aren’t getting into street machining, then this bloke – and this car – should set your mind at ease. At just 26 years old, Paul Camilleri is at least half the age of many of us (me included), but he was brought up-right and had the desire to own a Torana from a very young age, purchasing this one five years ago. “I’ve always been around old cars,” Paul says. “My old man has a genuine Barbados Green LH SL/R 5000, so I’ve just always liked them. I said as a kid I wanted a green Torana, but he beat me to it!

“I bought this one sight-unseen from an auction site based in South Australia,” he continues. “I’ve got another Torana at home – an LH that needs a lot of work – but the LX was in pretty good nick, so I was going to give it a quick closed-door respray, tidy it up, give it a quick retrim and drive it. It already had a 253 V8 in it, and I was keen to put a 308 in it. But you know how it is – one thing leads to another.”

Paul approached Phil Xerri from Phil’s Body Repairs about doing paint and panel on the car and was told there was a year-and-a-half wait. So, being an impatient 21-year-old, he started calling around other panel shops, and in the meantime, the car went to Brad from Ultimate Metalworks to have some rust cut out.