HQ Holden Sedan

The Great Australian Muscle Car Icon..

Ross’ vision..

In the early days of starting out as Timeless, I was elbow deep in the Mufflers to the Max ‘56 shop truck and Ross come by to chat over this HQ project he’d just embarked on. (Top marks for getting in early, thanks Ross lol) His ideas were simple, he loved the classic black GTS interior but also loved the flair we were able to throw at things and was more than happy to let me take the reins and add some trluy classic and custom touches along the way. Paired, of course, with full leather and fresh components as far as the eye could see.

So whilst the car was still in the body work stage, we began on the doors..

I’ll say it time and again, the doors will always be my favourite part of a car. A blank canvas for you to set the tone of the entire build with! Here, purists will see the classic GTS style reimagined into a flowing design that integrates some fresh and modern aluminium stripes and classic black loop carpet base. The deep forest green of course a wildcard addition I put to Ross that i’m stoked we ran with for some contrast whilst also adding some connection to the exterior of the car. From here, we played the waiting game..

The HQ has landed..

Fresh from paint and ready for me to rip in! First things first i wanted the get this glass in so i got straight into the bowed roof and dash whilst I was easily able to access it for repairs and modification..

As you can see, an amazing result for both the roof and dash. With a few minor imperfections corrected on the dash face we then proceeded to pattern in a basic stitch design reminiscent of something from the era. Also included, was the subtle green topstitch that was scattered throughout the interior. A very very classy touch that Ross was eager to include and one I was more than happy to add to the growing elegance the interior was beginning to show.

Next step was the floors (as you probably noticed from the previous photos)

First things first with these old steel bodys is deadening. I rolled down a base layer of CarBuilders deadening and also added a second layer beneath the footwell of their heatsheild which was ofcourse to fend off excess heat from that big block chev heart that was squeezed under the bonnet.

Finally I was able to get into the carpet, boy did it really start to show its character once I was finished.. have a go at these shots..

Now that I had the majority of the cabin done it was time for the seats. Fresh back from powdercoat, they were ready for the custom foam and covers. Ross and I had discussed at great length direction on these and eventually we landed on an idea I hadn’t seen done on a front seat yet. I took the original GTS single seat idea and simple stretched it wide to suit a bench format. Most will often make up bolsters to mimic 2 GTS seats seated side by side within a bench format but we opted out of this as the vision of something fresh was beckoning. I definitely was not disappointed with the results. Such a classic bench look whilst still holding true to the GTS style we were chasing.

By this stage, myself and Ross were over the moon. What a finish to the cabin. I knew couldn’t celebrate just yet though, the job was far from done as I still had the boot to go.

This boot proved to be a very challenging endeavour, let me explain why. Not only did Ross have his battery and fuel cell in the boot, but also want to house a few compartments for his spare belts, extinguisher and a tool roll also. Ontop of a stylish way to encase all these features, I wanted to make the boot completely removable for ease of future work. Beleive me, it was a methodical nightmare figuring out where to start lol.

Id say after roughly 20-25 hours, this is where I landed. Beneath this nicely presented selection of MDF and masonite panels was what seemed like an eternity of bracketry, hidden fasteners and loads of swear words as I bumped my head on the boot lid about 30 times.
From here is about another 10-15 hours just in covering panels. All meticulously gapped and set so that the thicknesses were spot on for the final fit up. I truly even surprised myself with the end result. To this day, still my favourite boot setup.

Everything just fit so well together. The design transposed so elegantly from the doors and the addition of that red GTS badge really set it off. A excellent finish that I couldn’t be more proud of. I couldn’t wipe the grin from Ross’ face when he received it back. He drove the thing a few hours north shortly after for Rockynats which received a very warm welcome from friends and spectators from the show. Thanks again Ross for the trust you placed in me for this interior! One I won’t forget too easily thats for sure.