BOSS STATUS

PAUL JOHNSTON'S METICULOUSLY DETAILED VK PROVES IT PAYS TO SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

- STORY LIAM QUIRK

PAUL Johnston has been in the automotive game his whole life. Before building his own mechanic business and dedicating himself to family life, he spent his spare time mucking around with old Holdens. With this stunning VK Commodore, he's gone back to his roots and built the kind of street machine he lusted after decades ago.

"I always wanted a VK, but could never afford one when I was younger," Paul recalls. "I recently had two mates building VKs, and I thought it'd be cool to have the three cars cruising together, but as things went on, I realised I couldn't do all this work and just have another Blue Meanie replica."

He's quick to admit that he was heavily inspired by the modern icon that is Peter Lewis's BOSS XC, built by Howard Astill (SM, Jun '23). With that in mind, it's not hard to draw similarities between the styling and finish of that stunning show car and Paul's above-andbeyond Group A tribute.

The basic formula for resurrecting an early Commodore shell is as old as time: fix a bit of rust around the windscreens and perhaps some in the boot floor, then undo some war wounds from decades of daily driving and you're just about there. However, Paul went to the extra effort of putting it all together in primer first to affirm his vision before tearing it all back down.