LOWLIFE Holden HJ ute auction

Early 90s fun machine sold at auction in Queensland

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IF SUCCESS in the car game can be measured by the amount of cubic fun you’ve generated with your builds, then Paul Cundy would be streets ahead of the game. The bloke from Armidale, NSW, has built some wild creations over the years, including a ground-breaking blown Chev-powered KE30 Corolla (SM, March, 1995), a stretched ZG Fairlane party car (April/May 1996), a super-smooth 1934 Chev roadster pickup (March 1999), a killer Pro Street VB/VK Commodore (Feb, 2001), and many more since.

Lowlife uteBut his first ride to grace the pages of Street Machine was his roofless HJ Holden ute, dubbed LOWLIFE. It first featured first in SM, July/Aug 1992 and again with a revamp in Jan/Feb 1994. Originally built in just 10 weeks, the HJ featured a B&M-blown and Predator-fed 383ci Chev stroker, an RTA-bothering stance, and an eye-popping pink duco with cutting-edge graphics. Body mods included removing the roof, chopping the front screen six inches, adding HZ front sheetmetal and smoothing everything.

Lowlife uteThe next build saw the addition of nitrous, and the chassis was smoothed to match the body and engine bay. An even-brighter paint job was also applied, and in that guise the ute won Top Wild Custom and Top Painted Graphics at Street Machine Summernats 6.

Lowlife uteWhy are we telling you all this? Because LOWLIFE went up for auction yesterday here – we’re not sure why it is listed as a HX, though.

Lowlife uteSM reader Lance checked the car out and laid down a bid, but didn’t manage to nab it. “I was kind of glad after it sat out in the rain for two days,” says Lance. “There was bog showing through the body and the Chev was gone and a 253 was in its place. The radiator was full of rust, but even so, it would have been cool to get it. There was an engineer’s report from Tasmania from the 1990s as well.”

Lowlife uteLet’s hope LOWLIFE goes to a good home and is restored to its former, fun-loving glory!

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