1971 Holden HG Panelvan - Reader Ride

By: Mike Casey with Guy Allen - words & photos

Date: 19.02.2021

It may have started life as a workhorse but this old van is now all about having fun

Yes, there is a bit of an HG thing going on. I own a beautiful HG Monaro (our cover car a couple of years ago, in issue 434 – Ed). Some time ago, I was in the market for a second car and bought an HG Belmont ute even though I really wanted a van.

Unfortunately vans are few and far between, and there was nothing good available at the time. So I did up the ute and drove it for a couple of years, then decided to have another go at getting a van. The ute was sold, but there are no regrets.

This popped up – an HG Belmont windowless van, so the most basic thing in the range back in the day and very much a working vehicle. When we got it, it was painted, had an engine and was registered but it needed more time put into it to get right. It had leaks and a lot of detail on the body needed finishing off.

It was also a column shift and the lack of clearance for the shifter wasn’t ideal. I wanted my wife to be happy with driving it, so we went to work.

| Reader Resto: 1979 Holden TE Gemini Gypsy

We took the seats out and the carpet out, cleaned it all, cut a hole in the floor and put a B&M shifter in it. We got all that working nicely and now it’s quite a fun car to drive.

Where the Monaro was a full restoration, this took 16 weekends.

It’s running a Vortec 350 Chev V8 with a Turbo 350 transmission, with a shortened VN limited slip diff in the rear.

It’s got four-wheel disc brakes, which makes a big difference to how it drives and makes it safer.

I was driving around in cars like this when I was 17. They were cheap ex-commercial vehicles, and then we saw things like the Sandman come along. It’s surprising how few of the old commercial vans have survived, they got worn out and crushed.

As some people may know, Holden developed these from the station wagon floor pan and, to get a flat floor, they simply fitted a cover across the rear footwell. The previous owner actually reversed that and fitted a second row of seats, which folds down when we’re not using it. The front buckets (out of a Monaro) tilt forward for access. We’ve tidied it all up – it’s a bit of a novelty and it’s really for kids as it doesn’t have the long doors of a coupe for easier access. It doesn’t get used all that much, normally there’s a mattress across the floor.

It’s our caravan. We’ve done a few trips up the coast with it. With a gazebo out the back, it works well and you couldn’t get a better motel room! It’s funny sometimes seeing these retirees hauling their $90,000 caravans, and they’ll sometimes stop, take a look and say "that’s the way to go".

I think this windowless body shape is beautiful and it’s become our get-away machine. We’re not looking at any more projects – we’re pretty content with this and the Monaro.

From Unique Cars #448, January 2021

Unique Cars magazine Value Guides

Sell your car for free right here