NEW OLD STOCK

AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, MARK PSAILA TOOK HIS HR PREMIER FROM STOCK CREAM-PUFF TO PRO STREET TOUGHIE. NOW, STOCK6 IS BACK AS A BIG-TYRE, TURBO 2JZ ROCKET

- STORY IAIN KELLY

THOSE of you who can quote The Simpsons verbatim and remember when petrol was less than $1 per litre no doubt still find it a touch shocking that the 1990s apparently ended a quarter-century ago.

These days, it seems like nobody hangs on to anything for longer than 20 minutes, but Mark Psaila's managed to keep this 1966 HR Premier firmly in his possession for more than 25 years.

“I bought the HR as a stock two-owner car in the late 90s,” Mark says. He kept it that way for a while, but once he'd swapped in a hot 208ci red six with triple carbs, it was game on. “Then it had a mild Chevy 350 small-block, and after that I fitted a big 434ci small-block from Trick & Mansweto,” he says. “That made 680hp on the engine dyno, and nearly 1000hp on nitrous.”

The HR was more than just a tough engine by that stage; Mark had built the car into a quality all-'round streeter, with custom paint and trim. “It was painted House of Kolor Sunset Pearl orange, and it was a pretty good thing,” he says. “But then it sat around for about 15 years. It needed things fixed, and in the meantime, I built a rusty-looking HR called RAT-HR with an RB25 Nissan engine. But I kept walking past this car and was sick of it sitting there, so I realised I needed to get back into it or sell it – and I couldn't sell it.”