BEN Judd’s EH Holden wagon is our reigning Street Machine Of The Year and a Summernats Top 20 show car, but as is often the case, Ben’s goals were set much lower when he first started this build around 12 years ago.
Ben Judd’s EH Holden wins Street Machine of the Year 2018
The wagon came onto the scene in 1978, when it served as family transport for the Judd boys as Ben’s mum’s car. In 1993 when Ben got his licence, he was gifted the old Holden, and that’s really when the fun began.
Ben hotted up the factory 179 with triple sidedraught Webers and built it up as a neat streeter. But being an old car, it was starting to rust, and eventually the factory diff went bang when one of Ben’s mates took the car for a drive. After that it went into hibernation until Ben was ready for a ground-up rebuild.
The whole shell was taken back to metal and sandblasted, which revealed all of the rust that had built up over the years. While the car went under the knife for its tinworm eradication program, Ben thought he might get the rear end tubbed to fit some decent rubber. And while they were at it, they also cut out and remoulded the rear section of the floor to accommodate a larger exhaust system.
After first building a tough 179 with a super-rare Phil Irving 12-port head, Ben still wanted more grunt, so the boys built up a 325hp Holden 202.
The interior of Ben’s PRO EH is a real standout – and it’s what initially really caught our attention when we saw the car at MotorEx 2017. The custom-made wave-shaped seats and beautifully trimmed white interior really give the car a laid-back beach vibe while also looking unique. Yet with a factory dash, it’s still recognisably a classic Holden. The interior work was all handled by Ben’s brother Simon.
In fact, the majority of this build was completed by Ben and his brothers Nik, a gun panel guy, and interior wizard Simon. As the build progressed, things kept turning out far better than they expected, which forced them to improve the car in other areas. And while it may have taken a few years to get there, these boys knocked it out of the park with PRO EH.
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