It's been a long seven-year process, but Peter Rendall from Dubbo has finally finished the restoration of this HQ Holden SS that he first bought brand new in 1972.
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"I remember seeing the sales brochure for the SS with its V8, 4 speed and twin exhausts and it drew me in straight away," Peter said.
"We were starting a family so I traded in my XU1 Torana on the bigger HQ."
Peter still has his original sales docket from Cobar Motors, and although $4268.45 sounds unbelievably cheap by today's standards, it was a lot of money in 1972.
"You could buy a block of land in Dubbo for that money," Peter laughed.
The HQ was the very first of the Holdens to wear the SS badging, sporting a 253 V8 and distinctive bonnet striping.
Available in only three colours, Peter originally chose the green, "Lettuce Alone" but when a red car arrived instead he was happy with "Infrared".
"I really had no choice," Peter said. "They were going like wildfire so I took the red one before somebody else did."
I remember seeing the sales brochure for the SS with its V8, 4 speed and twin exhausts and it drew me in straight away.
- Peter Rendall
Peter owned the HQ for 20 years before giving it to his son Stephen in 1992.
"I swapped it for a VB Commodore of all things," he said.
Sadly the car was T-boned in an accident in 1993 and was a write-off.
"We bought it back from the insurance company and after some body repairs courtesy of the local TAFE college it sat in my shed for 20 years," Peter said.
It was 2013 when Peter decided it was time for a restoration.
"I'd retired and I wanted to put my own stamp on the HQ again and update the mechanicals at the same time," he said.
Ironically it was another SS - a VN Commodore that became the donor with a fuel injected 5.0 litre V8 and 5 speed transmission, air conditioning, power steering and power windows, central locking and radial tuned suspension.
"I remember how it drove back in 1972," Peter said.
"It's a totally different car now with way more power."
Peter also said he'd like to thank everybody who helped him along the way - "you know who you are" - especially his brother Tom and his mate Vic, who started as the painter and became a good friend.
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