Adrian's 1986 Holden VL Commodore:

The SL came to me after being abandoned by my brother in my parents driveway for longer than Dad could take. It was around mid 2009, and the nature of the phone call was, "You want that car in the drive way?, its yours." Nek minit, he had it on a trailer and delivered right to the door.

Sweet. I always wanted a Walky, but could never afford one. But now I had a starting point.

Initial funding came via deal sweetners from the wife's home improvement aspirations that I was initially hesitiant to commit to. This was enough to get going with the body and drive line.

Ebay and market place provided VR clubby seats, VP senator steering wheel, a Getrag gear cruncher walky door cards and an OK set of tri spokes to get things rolling. V6 Conversions delivered some gear to wire the gearbox into the ECU, and between Repco and the wreckers, I had everythign needed to upgrade the brakes to V8 spec. Good bye rear drums.

Everything came together in the home double lockup, including its first coats of new acrylic.

3 years passed before all the paperwork was sorted for rego. Coming home from Main Roads I learnt 2 things. This car gets attention. This car gets the attention of Mr Police man. Dude was cool about the walky with no plates in the middle of ipswich though and issued a big thumbs up.

Now that the itch to drive it had been scratched, the changes came a little slower. Over the next few years, Devenish seats came up for a price I couldn't refuse, all the parts for a VT brake upgrade came together at the same time and same place, and an entire suspension package came home via the spouse's staff discount at fulcrum.

Various other little changes were made, AU Twin thermos replaced the clutch fan. The stock getrag shifter went in the bin when a billet stick arrived, and some of the engine bay wiring was relocated behind the guards.

Fast forward a couple of years and everyone's got a hard-on for walky wheels, and gee those 17" tri spokes are looking a little small under those arches. So I did what all the other sheep did and got me a set.

Now, the kids had never been a fan of dad's car. It was loud and it drew attention, which they didn't think was cool. But one day something clicked, and my boy blew me away with "Dad, can you take me to the formal in the VL" Fuck yes. you finally get it. and yes, I'll take you the formal. its locked in.

Remember my new commitment, becasue over the easter long weekend in 2024, I had the brilliant idea to fix up the c-pillar & spoiler gap. It had bothered me for years, So I went and got everything I needed, paint, thinners, sand paper, everything except wisdom.

The C pillar came out perfect, and a very different shade of silver to the resto of the car.

Its funny how plans can suddenly change, because I wasn't planning on a full respray before I unmasked it. but it was the designated formal car, and would be needed for duty in a couple of months. Subsequently it was put up on stands and stripped back to its undies by Easter Monday, ready for a couple of weeks of late nights of sanding and prepping.

Without Lewie's help it would have come out less than mediocre, but I'm stoked with the result. Not show car or pro quality, but significantly better than what it was before.

Promise kept Big shiny wheels, fresh paint, we got that little boy in the picture all the way up the top, to the formal on time, and in style.

Like all good project cars, It doesn't end there. The latest updates include a 36cm momo ghilby steering wheel, just like the real walky one but a little smaller, and a calais cluster, which brings it a little closer to looking like a real one.

So whats next? I never liked the colour of those devenish seats, but I can't give up the shape, so instead of finding some walky buckets and bench, I'm keen on trimming these with tweed up the centre and light grey velour to replace the dark grey. And as for the old 5L, whlie a twin throttle body manifold would be the correct thing to put on top, a roots style blower would sure bring a smile to my face.

March 2026 update

The VL spent a couple of weeks in the care of Image Trimming having the seats repaired, reshaped and recovered. It even made a friend while there.

The VN-VS headrests and shape have been removed from the rear giving way to something closely matching that 1988 cars. And while the fronts retain the Devenish shape and stitchlines, they now look like they blong here.

Thanks to BCS Auto Paints for the 15iW paint and tweed, and Top End interiors for the grey velour.

Nitty gritty

Image Gallery