Classic Cars

Check out this Torana Revamp That’ll Have you Feeling Nostalgic

Leo Nech’s first car – a Holden LJ Torana – was stolen and crashed in the early 1970s. Fifty years later a restoration project has rekindled that first love.

Half a century ago, Peter Perfect stormed to a solo victory at a wet Bathurst 500. Car and driver – Brock and the Holden Torana – became instant legends that year, giving an extra layer of appeal to any LJ Torana birthed in 1972. This is one such car. Not as beastly as Brockie’s GTR XU-1 version, but no less eye-catching in factory Lone O’Ranger orange. It never used to look this spectacular, and does so today thanks to a magnificent restoration – centred on maintaining plenty of the Torana’s originality – overseen by Victorian Leo Nech.

The 69 year old has quite the history with Toranas. Some 50 years ago his first car – an orange LJ – met a tragic end. Thieves pinched it while he was inside a Frankston hotel, they were promptly chased by the police, panicked, and wrapped it around a pole. “It was my pride and joy,” Leo said. “I loved the shape of them. They looked good back then and certainly still do today.” He’s had a busy business life in the intervening years, but Leo always harboured dreams of restoring a Torana to replace his wrecked example. “About four years ago my son started looking for one, and we found this two-owner car sitting in a garage with little rust,” Leo explained.

“The husband of the lady selling it had passed away, and thieves had damaged it while trying to steal its badges. She decided she should sell it, but told me I’ve got to keep it the same colour!” That wasn’t going to be easy. The tired 1972 Torana S was originally dull beige and was very much showing its age. Besides, there was much to be done before then. “We were able to drive it home, albeit with a great deal of smoke coming from the exhaust,” said Leo. “The interior needed a great deal of work – the seats had rips everywhere and the dash was cracked.” Looking at pre-restoration photos of the Torana helps us appreciate the stunning transformation.

It’s gone from a ‘Nanna special complete with chips, dents, bent chrome side strips and crummy seat covers to an immaculate, polished chrome street cruiser. Surely the previous owner would forgive Leo’s decision to opt for the brighter bodywork when it went off to the spray booth. Being time poor, Leo enlisted the help of specialists to do much of the restoration.

The Torana was striped to a bare shell and the engine, gearbox and suspension removed for rebuilding. “In my spare time I was tasked with sourcing and restoring parts as we wanted to keep the car as original as possible,” said Leo. “This was often a nightmare. I managed to find a guy with a little shed full of parts in Melbourne, but mainly bits and pieces came out of South Australia.” The idea was to repair parts where spares couldn’t be located – a cracked heater box and stuffed horn for example.

“There’s nothing wrong with Rare Spares, but they’re all manufactured overseas, and I wanted to keep things as they were,” he said. Take the cabin. The original steering wheel and dash are still in place, but now refurbished to look better than new. “A guy in Adelaide hand-painted the silver line around the dash and heater controls,” Leo said. “You can’t buy replacements for those anymore; you’d only get something wrecked that’d probably be worse that you’ve already got.”

The ripped old brown seats have been expertly re-covered in black, carpets and headliner are new while the chrome handles and steering column stalks look concours good. The original radio was sadly too far gone, but in its place, a period-looking Bluetooth head-unit covers the audio. “I’ve programmed it just to play 70s and 80s music so when I drive it, it takes me back to the era,” Leo said. Peer under the car and under the bonnet and you’ll find a gleaming painted gearbox and engine too, helping this Torana look museum ready.

The original Holden 173cu in (2.85-litre) six-cylinder still powers this 50-year-old, mated to a three-speed column-shift Trimatic auto. Leo said he considered a V8 swap, or fitting triple Webers to the six-cylinder, but decided to keep things as standard for originality sakes. With suspension, brakes and that fabulous respray all complete, Leo says the A labour of love, maybe, so does he regret not buying an already-restored Torana from the outset? “Not at all,” he said. “It’s a good feeling to have something so original and being involved with the work to keep it that way.

With an already-restored car you don’t know if they’ve used genuine or overseas parts or how thorough they’ve been. I know what’s gone into this car as we’ve restored it from scratch.” A compromise to the originality is seen with the wheels, but again, it’s hard to blame Leo for replacing the small, original steel rims and Holden hubcaps with gorgeous period Monaro items. “

The first drive out of the workshop made me feel like I was back in the 1970s,” Leo explained. “It’s a Sunday car for the wife and I, it handles great and purrs along. I’ve got such nostalgia for it as I look across the dashboard; it’s like going back in time.” It must be like getting reacquainted with your first love. It’s almost fifty years since Leo’s first LJ Torana was stolen and wrecked, but finally he’s back behind the wheel of his dream car. Time to make up for lost time.

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