Matt's 1968 HK GTS Monaro

At the tender age of 17, I came across a nice sleek looking HK Monaro at my dad's work in Albury NSW. Upon seeing it, I instantly fell in love with it. It was a car that would get peoples attention. After finding out that one of my father's employee's owned the vehicle, I began discussions to purchase the vehicle from him. Not only did he have this HK, But also a gold HT.
He had just got married and was thinking of selling the HK.

I then had discussions with my parents and due to the fact that I had a part time job, they organised a bank loan for me. I purchased the car for $5000. I would drive the Blue HK 186S to high school everyday and it sure attracted attention, all the boys wanted a ride and so did the girls. I had this car for approximately 3 years, and during this time I changed the Opel 4 speed to a 3 speed auto with B&M Mega shifter, after the manual box blew up. The interior seats were redonealong with a few other bits and pieces. This was the beginning of the Monaro in my life.

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After finishing High school I decided to move to Melbourne to further my career, and sold the Monaro. I thought at the time that if I were to use it as a daily driver in Melbourne it would probably get stolen. After 5 or 6 years of constantly dreaming of owning a V8 Monaro, I began my search. Papers didn't get me far, Magazines were over priced, but an advert on the Internet provided me with a lead to a HK 327 in Wollongong. This time I told nobody of my decision and when away on a work conference.

I had the guy meet me and show me the vehicle, As soon as I saw it my younger days experiences were rekindled. It was instantly going to become mine! I paid the deposit and picked it up a couple of weeks later from Wollongong for a mere $7500. I drove it back to Albury and stored it my best friend's house while the work began. The previous owner had made the car look fairly good on the outside but mechanically it needed a fair bit of work, as it was a bitch to drive.
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So I basically I completed the following:
1. Had the whole car rewired - New custom fuse box and trip switches in case of short circuits.
2. New Shocks, New Tyres, Original Hubcaps, New Steering Column, Resized Leaf Springs, Sony Xplod Stereo System and the list goes on.

The car today is a beautiful car to drive and quite enjoyable, I still have a little bit of work to go, The engine needs a little more grunt, The interior needs a little work. But my plans are to have this car in my family for a long time so i plan to do it one job at a time.

Following on from this it was always a dream of mine to have a couple of these cars and use them for weddings etc not having enough cash flow I needed a partner to fulfil my dream and that's where Mark fits in. It was a very long process getting all the licences, insurance and certificates required but after around 18 months I finally had all that was required and started Old & New Borrowed & Blue Car Hire.

So far it has proven a pretty tough road but after all the set-up costs and advertising it is starting to pay off, we have done a number of weddings and debutantes. The Monaro Legend lives on and there are a lot of people out there that love these cars. Monaro On!

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Mark's Car has the following specs : 1968 HK GTS MONARO, 307 Chev, Engine basically back to original specs, 2 speed powerglide, Ermine white. This car has been restored to immaculate original condition. All credit must go to Darren Atkins, the car's original owner, whom Mark originally purchased the car from.

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