Tag: holden

Feature Car: Peter Bonassi's Holden Commodore

Blown and Injected 420ci SBC

What has 980hp, 22x13in rears and a ton of attitude? Peter Bonassi’s Holden Commodore, that’s what.

This VK was Peter’s dream car from his mid-teens, bit it took almost a decade to make his dream a reality. It’s not every day you find a small-block making this kind of horsepower, either.

My photo shoot was featured in the 2024 Street Machine Yearbook. Enjoy a few photos of the car here.

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Front Cover - Dom's Holden for Street Machine

Insane Skid Shot Makes Cover

Who doesn’t love a good skid shot?! I know the team at Street Machine sure do. And from the feedback I’ve seen online, many readers do, too.

I got to shoot Dom Luci’s Holden for the cover of Street Machine’s January 2025 issue. The skid shot was the last thing we did during the photo shoot. It took mere seconds to finish off the sticky rubber at the back and the smoke was instant.

Believe it or not, this was actually the only viable frame I got from the skid. I had set the car up to make best use of the sun, and set up a couple of flashes around the car to fill in some shadow and light up the smoke. The car had other ideas. It immediately kicked off to the side, Dom went out of view – hidden behind the bower – and the flashes were no longer in their optimum positions. 

After that, the car just disappeared behind a thick cloud of smoke, noever to be seen again. The air was quite still that afternoon and there was no moving it. Despite that, this shot still ticked almost all the boxes and the cover came out great!

Be sure to pick up a copy and read the whole story now!

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Feature Car: Chris Schembri's HT Monaro

Blown Dart Iron-Block 408ci LS

It was great to see my photo shoot on Chris Schembri’s HT Monaro finally make it into the December 2024 issue of Street Machine. I’d shot it several months prior in a newly finished shed that belonged to a friend of his – both the car and the shed looking a million bucks apiece.

Powered by a supercharged iron-block 408ci Dart LS, this classic Aussie coupe is absolutely no slouch and Chris isn’t afraid to bury the boot in it.I don’t think you can ever get sick of HK/HG/HT Monaros, can you?!

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FLASHBACK: 2006 and the First Reader-Voted SCOTY

...and a V6 Won!

FLASHBACK to 2006. It was the first year that we opened the Car of the Year awards up to a public vote. I was editor of Street Commodores at the time. We had a custom trophy designed and built for the purpose by Danny Hoang from Cyber Motorsports, from memory. It turned out so nicely, but given the state of decay that ran through Express Publications in the 2010s, I hate to think what happened to it.
We courted controversy by having the winner chosen by public vote. The first winner was a twin-turbo V6, which sent some of the diehard V8 guys into a tailspin. I even had one former cover car owner call me one night claiming all sorts of conspiracy theories and making personal attacks.
Frankly, the car was a pioneer and a deserved winner and life continued on.
I continued on at Express until 2010, when I went freelance – contributing to most of the Express motoring titles until the bitter end. It was sad seeing the magazines being allowed to peter out of existence, but I’ll always be grateful for the experience I gained and the people I met.

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Feature Car: Mark Caruana's HK Holden

Flawless 700hp N/A Beauty

Mark Caruana found a unicorn when he stumbled across this genuine 11,000-mile survivor that had already been through one ground-up resto. A truly ‘only driven on Sundays’ situation, much of this car’s interior is actually original!

It was a quick build, with the final rush from painted shell to Summernats taking just three short months. Find a copy of the November 2024 issue of Street Machine to read all about it.

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Cover Car: Simon Kryger's WB Holden

632ci Big-Block Patina Sleeper

Simon Kryger’s WB Tonner was a first for Street Machine. The magazine has never run a car quite like it on the front cover before and may never do so again.

Powered by a nitrous-sniffing 632ci big-block and underpinned by a number of drag-oriented chassis and suspension upgrades, this machine looks like it just got done with 40 years of tradie work… and in many ways it has.

Get up close and you’ll see most of the patina on this thing is legit. Original paint, original steel tray. Look closer though and you see the tray floor is now a digital print of a photo of the original tray. The brown vinyl trim actually hides a pair of Kirkey race seats and matching brown painted roll cage. The reverse-cowl scoop is covered in a beautifully executed vinyl wrap featuring matching rust spots and well-matched pale yellow.

The shoot was featured on the cover of the October 2024 issue of Street Machine.

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Cover Car: Simon Kryger's WB Tonner

632ci BBC Monster WB Tonner

I think this might be the first rusty machine that Street Machine has ever run on the front cover… and what a beast it is! With over 600 cubic-inches of nitrous-fed grunt under its cowl-scooped bonnet.

Get to your favourite retail outlet and grab a copy now to see more.

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Feature Car: Garry Rosser's Holden Tonner

6/71-Blown 383ci Holden V8

In a world where most classic Holdens seemd to be powered by the now ubiquitous LSx family of alloy V8s, Garry Rosser’s delectable WB-fronted Holden tonner runs a beuatifully-detailed and supercharged 383ci Holden. 

I travelled out to the Central West of NSW for a couple of days to photograph a few cars for Street Machine magazine and captured Garry’s newly-finished tonner at the same time. We scored some lovely weather and the warm afternoon light brought out the best in the candy red metallic paint.

The shoot appeared in the June 2024 issue of Street Machine. 

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Feature Car: Anthony Saf's VK Commodore

Blown LS-Powered and Blingin'

I last ran into Anthony Saf some eight years ago when I photographed one of his earlier builds (also a VK) for the front cover of Street Commodores magazine. Both cars have distinct personalities, however both are powered by supercharged LSx-variants.

Whereas the last car was a comparatively subdued-looking gunmetal HDT-clad beast with an LSA-style forced induction setup, this latest build takes a custom Brock path – although it’s well-enough removed from being a Blue Meanie clone to keep things interesting.

perhaps the biggest element with this car is the use of gold plating and lowrider-style engraving, as you can see in the photos.

My shoot appeared in the May issue of Street Machine.

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Feature Car: Jason Mackenzie's 1967 Camaro

8/71-Blown 489ci Big-Block Camaro

Off the road for 19 long years after a catastrophic engine failure on the burnout pad at Kandos, Jason Mackenzie’s brilliant candy green 1967 Chevrolet Camaro makes a stunning return to the scene – bigger and better than ever.

My photo shoot on the car appeared in the April 2024 issue of Street Machine magazine. The attention to detail throughout the entire car made the shoot a great experience and I reckon it came out looking fine in print.

Powered by a astoking 8/71-blown 489ci big-block, it’s a monster machine that sacrifices nothing in the way of aesthetics for horsepower. 

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