1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute: Reader Ride

Date: 21.09.2015

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

Mark Williams bought his HK ute nearly ten years ago and says he absolutely loves it

Mark Williams' 1969 Holden HK Belmont Ute

I’ve been reading Unique Cars since I was ten years old. I picked up a copy at my aunty’s house and my cousin and I would pretend we had x-amount of money and would pick a car to ‘buy’. I’ve now got boxes and boxes of UC, including the same issue I bought my HK ute from.

I’d been looking at the ute for three weeks in the mag, constantly thinking about it, nagging me… So I bought it. That was nearly ten years ago and I absolutely love it. Dad, who used to have an HG wagon among other cars, got me into these cars just because it was what he had when I was growing up. Now though, I have to ban him from driving my HK because he tried to drive it like a bloody race car. Dad, you hoon, it’s an old car, you have to show mechanical sympathy. He broke the steering column when he took it around the block.

People are constantly asking about the paint because it looks like a modern day resto job but in fact it was done in the late ’90s. For 25-year-old paint it looks stunning every single time I walk up to it and god I love driving it. We’ve been through a lot together, this ute and I. Back in my P-plate days I used to get plenty of looks hopping around in what people thought was ‘Dad’s car’, and I once lost a wheel off the back when I tried to give a VT Commodore a run for its money – courtesy of the spool diff it once had. Now it’s a more sensible nine-inch diff with 4.11:1 ratios. The gearbox is a Turbo 400 auto with about 200kW at the rear wheels from the 308. I’ve put a solid cam in it which gives the old girl plenty of spirit.

One of my favourite memories I’ve had with the HK is thanks to my nan, who is deaf. I’m living with her, and once came up the driveway, making plenty of noise rumbling into the garage, rattling windows, as always. She said to me completely straight when I got in the door, with not an inch of sarcasm, "I think your car’s running rough."

I had a laugh when she said it. But I went out the next morning and had a listen and a look – she was bloody right!

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