WIDELY REGARDED AS A FOUNDING FATHER OF AUSTRALIA’S PRO
STREET MOVEMENT, WAYNE PAGEL SHOOK THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR
SPORT WITH A LEGENDARY HT MONARO. THREE DECADES ON, HIS
PASSION FOR TOUGH, HIGH-QUALITY BUILDS IS AS STRONG AS EVER
WAYNE’S WORLD
I
N THE mid-1980s, a group of Brisbane-
based mates turned Australia’s street
machining scene on its ear. The names
Wayne Pagel, Rob Beauchamp and Greg
Carlson will trigger memories for many old-
schoolers, and their respective builds have
long been entrenched as icons in our history
books. Wayne’s famed black HT Monaro,
which we featured way back in the June 1986
issue, was officially dubbed Midnight Maniac,
but has since become universally known
and remembered by what was on its number
plates: GAS69.
With a second generation of Pagel HTs
featured in this issue – son Reece’s sedan on
page 58 – we spoke to Wayne about those
formative years of the pro street scene and how
the modified car movement has evolved in the
past three decades.What first got you interested in cars?
I was a product of the panel van era. At 18 I
kicked off with an HG van that was a dead-
stocker running a six-cylinder. Originally it was
more about cruising around and catching up
with your mates, but eventually I fitted a 350
and tinkered with it inside and out. You know,
all the bad taste stuff of that time, like decking
out the rear and fitting all the add-ons to make
it stand out. But then I got interested in the
horsepower side of cars and making it quicker,
so all the silly things fell off [laughs]. It was extra
weight I didn’t need.Was there any particular car that you
obsessed over or inspired you?
Leon Harris and his XB panel van Mr Damage
took detail to a new level and so did Stephen
Ellis with his Holden van XX308 – those cars
were both show and go, which was rare in the
van scene – but it was Rob Beauchamp who
taught me about the importance of quality and
I probably caught that bug off him.
How did GAS69 come about, and what
inspired you to go down the pro street
path?
I was drag racing my van, which was basically
just a box with a tough engine, and starting to
learn about the whole power-to-weight thing,
so knew I had to change things up. I was keen
to buy a sedan-type car, so I bought a black HT
Monaro from Rob Beauchamp as a roller for
$3500. That was a lot of coin for something
with no engine or ’box back in the mid-80s,
but it was already a show-quality car. Rob was
building his LX Torana at the time so he kept
the driveline for that; I repainted it Midnight
Black with candy blue for the engine bay before
slotting in my 350 and heading to the 1985
Street Machine Nationals. The problem was
people just walked straight past it, which can
be tough to swallow when it’s your pride and
joy. Sure, it was a good-looking car, but there
were probably six other Monaros there that
looked just like it, so it didn’t stand out. I made
an instant decision at those Nationals to make
it tough and mean for the following year.STORY SIMON MAJOR PHOTOS NATHAN DUFF & SM ARCHIVESLEGEND