tight and without the ‘factory wrinkles’ that
the cars are known for. Genuine head deck
and a genuine re-trimmed steering wheel.
The only real difference will be the addition of
VE SS pedals to accommodate a fly-by-wire
engine set-up. The wiring will all be custom,
with the wiring inside the bay hidden away.
Various custom-made aluminium parts, such
as a header tank, heat exchanger tank, washer
bottle, clutch reservoir, brake fluid reservoir and
power steering bottle will find their way into the
engine bay. The wheels I’ve chosen are 20-inch
Walkinshaw rims. There’ll be a whole lot of other
details as the build progresses, with the plan
being the car will be finished by the time I’m 18.
What was the inspiration for the build?
Well, it was always going to be a Holden, as
Dad had given me the option to either build
a white Group Three VK or a VL Walkinshaw.
Obviously I chose the Walky; they’ve always
been my dream car and my preference due
to the unique look of them. My dad had just
finished building his seriously cool replica HDT
VK Brock, with a race car twist to it, and it was
my turn. We ended up going with the idea of
using the last HSV running gear in the first HSV
vehicle produced.
What have you learned from your dad
during the build so far?
My dad is a perfectionist and has set his heart
on building this car with me so that I can see
how much hard work and hard-earned money is
involved in building a quality car. He has put all
his heart into this build so that I can enjoy this
car with him, cruising together in both our builds
when that day finally arrives.
What sort of running gear will be in it?
The car will be powered by a 6.2L LSA witha custom camshaft. Bolted onto that will be a
T56 Magnum Tremec manual gearbox with a
Mal Wood conversion. We chose to go with an
original BorgWarner differential with 31-spline
axles and a Harrop Truetrac, and a chrome-moly
custom tailshaft. Brakes are Harrop 381mm
discs with six-piston calipers, and there’s a coil-
over conversion for the front suspension. It’s all
finished off with a twin three-inch custom-made
exhaust system.
There is a lot of detail and care going into
the car; what do you hope the final product
will be like?
I want to be able to show the car at a few major
events like MotorEx, so it must be on par with
Dad’s VK. I’m aiming at getting the bodykit and
body as close to perfect as possible. It’ll be a
nice, sleek car that will seem tame but will have
the power when I want it to be there. sLEFT: Jayden’s dad
Mario converted a VK
Vacationer into a replica
Brocky (far left), with a
stout, beautifully detailed
Holden V8 up front topped
by a VL Group A injection
manifold, good for 570hp.
His Pontiac drag car (left)
competed in the Super
Gas class, running a best
of 8.80 before being sold
several years agoI WANT TO BUILD THIS CAR TO APPEAR AS A VERY CLEAN, STREET VL
WALKINSHAW, BUT UNDERNEATH BE A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING