What started as a means to keep warm and dry on the way to work turned into a 10-year obsession to create the ultimate street machine.

After riding motorbikes for 20 years, Lee Smith decided it was time to invest in a car to keep him warm and dry on those ugly Christchurch mornings. Lee knew he wanted a V8, liked the look of Holden Statesmans and wanted something he could do skids in. After talking to friends with a tad more knowledge of cars than himself, Lee decided he would need to spend a lot of coin on the motor if he wanted to get a heavy Statesmen to do proper skids — a lighter-weight Torana was the perfect solution.

After going for a ride in one that was for sale, and thinking it was cool, he bought it. He hadn’t even driven the car — in fact he had never even driven a V8 before.

As it happened, Lee’s new purchase had more rust in it than metal. But thanks to Lee finishing his painting apprenticeship at the time, it wasn’t long before the rust was fixed and the car painted in bright yellow. (more…)