WHITE GOLD

CRAIG MCKENZIE REVIVES A LEGENDARY HR SHOW UTE WITH SOME MODERN TWISTS TO HAVE IT ONCE AGAIN CLAIM TOP TINWARE AT SUMMERNATS

- KIAN HEAGNEY

WHEN Ditch Jones unveiled this very HR ute way back at Street Machine Summernats 20, it made a big impression on the scene with its wild body mods, blown Holden six-pot and grey-over-yellow paintwork. Nearly two decades later, the ute still lives on, now in the hands of proud custodian Craig McKenzie, who’s put a modern spin on Ditch’s original vision to recreate the HR as a repeat elite-level show winner.

We’ve relived the story of Ditch’s original build of the car a few times now (SM, Apr ’07 and Yearbook 2022), but if you missed any of those, here’s a basic recap: Ditch wanted a stand-out show machine, so he commissioned Drago and Rob Ostric from Sefton Concept Vehicles to undertake the extensive body mods you see here, along with fitting the blown six-pot.

As for Craig, he has a habit of finding and restoring old show cars, including the Auto Salon-famous Green Ghost Nissan S14 200SX that we featured in our May 2022 issue. “I have a lot of respect for older stuff, and I believe a lot of them can still compete with the top stuff today with just a bit of work,” he says.

Knowing that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Craig snapped up the HR as soon as he spotted in on the market. “I found it on [Facebook] Marketplace in Sydney at a car dealer. I bought it sight-unseen and then had it brought down,” says the Victorian. “It wasn’t in the best nick, and no one wanted it, but I was at Summernats in the hall when it got unveiled all those years ago, so I knew its potential.”