LIL H’ started as a passion project. The owner and his son Henry have talked about cars since before he could walk, so it’s safe to say that Henry has inherited his Dad’s passion.  They have been building a collection of classics for a number of years, which now includes most of my all-time favourite Holdens:

HQ GTS Monaro Coupe,
XW GT 4 Door,
VC HDT,
VH GRP 3,
VK SS GRP A,
VK SS GRP 3,
VL GRP A Plus Pk,
VN SS GP A; and
My dream car as a kid, the legendary Walkinshaw.

This year, with Henry’s eighth birthday approaching, we set our minds to creating a one-off custom build named LIL H, to be dedicated to Henry. We wanted a genuine VL Calais Turbo to use for the foundation of the build – one of my first cars as a reckless young driver and enthusiast. We found a near-perfect specimen, and with a few small repairs we were off and running.

Taking inspiration from what we think are the best parts of the 1980’s commodores, Henry and his Dad debated at length what should appear on and in this one-of-a-kind Commodore.

Henry wanted it to be green and – after a few spray out card variants – chose a very specific shade and named it “Alien Glow”. Creating this custom colour was Henry’s favourite part of the process, a feature which inspired the distinct underbody and engine bay lights. We even added a “Glow Baby Glow” button in the dash that operates the lights, which he loves (and so do I!).

Geoff added the build plaque to the glove box, highlighting that LIL H is a Group H, Build number 001, and unique, just like the car’s namesake. We then added an amazing sound system to the boot to accentuate the lighting setup. The fire extinguisher dressed as a NOS bottle was the pièce de résistance for me.  The interior is based on a VL SS GRP A, with three variants of grey instead of the standard colour, and we love the result. Geoff hit it out the park with a number of carbon fibre touches which are my favourite details.

A lot of passion goes into bringing something like LIL H to life.  Reaching a consensus between an opinionated eight-year-old boy, his 40-year-old rev-head father and a stubborn 56-year-old restoration specialist was no mean feat. From the performance of the car to our vision for how it should look, feel and drive, we butted heads on more than a few details, but it was all worth it in the end.  Many parts of the build required out-of-the-box thinking but ultimately resulted in a lot of crazy ideas becoming reality. For example, the engine bay required many custom and handmade parts, often requiring multiple iterations to ensure that the engine bay build was as clean and balanced as possible.  Many of the engine bay, bodywork and interior modifications are so subtle and well executed that you could easily miss them.  We all love the result – it is incredibly clean and well thought-out, down to the smallest details. I could pull up a chair and happily stare at it all day.  None of this would have been possible without GC Restoration – Geoff, Laura and their team of talented tradesmen’ – their commitment and passion for this project was unrivalled.  Countless hours, thousands of messages, calls and meetings, and meticulous attention to detail made this one for the record books and delivered a result beyond what I had thought was possible.