Those of you who can quote The Simpsons verbatim and remember when petrol was less than $1 per litre no doubt still find it a touch shocking that the 1990s apparently ended a quarter-century ago. These days, it seems like nobody hangs on to anything for longer than 20 minutes, but Mark Psaila’s managed to keep this 1966 HR Premier firmly in his possession for more than 25 years.

First published in the January 2026 issue of Street Machine

“I bought the HR as a stock two-owner car in the late 90s,” Mark says. He kept it that way for a while, but once he’d swapped in a hot 208ci red six with triple carbs, it was game on. “Then it had a mild Chevy 350 small-block, and after that I fitted a big 434ci small-block from Trick & Mansweto,” he says. “That made 680hp on the engine dyno, and nearly 1000hp on nitrous.”

The HR was more than just a tough engine by that stage; Mark had built the car into a quality all-’round streeter, with custom paint and trim. “It was painted House of Kolor Sunset Pearl orange, and it was a pretty good thing,” he says. “But then it sat around for about 15 years. It needed things fixed, and in the meantime, I built a rusty-looking HR called RAT-HR with an RB25 Nissan engine. But I kept walking past this car and was sick of it sitting there, so I realised I needed to get back into it or sell it – and I couldn’t sell it.”

With the call made to bring the tough streeter back, Mark decided he wanted to set it up on big radials so he could try his hand at a bit of drag and roll racing. This meant he’d be getting friendly with his grinder and TIG bug-zapper.

STANCE: Double-adjustable Viking coil-over struts live up front, with Gazzard Brothers mono-leaf springs, adjustable shocks and an anti-roll bar out back. “Leaf springs are pretty easy to set up compared to a four-link,” says Mark. “I’ve been messing with them for years, and there’s plenty of cars running sevens on leaf springs, so why not?”

“The body was already pretty straight, but I decided to do a rear clip, because I wanted the big-tyre pro street look,” Mark says. “From the rear seat back is all new. I bought bare rails from McDonald Brothers and welded it all together on my garage floor, then got it into the car. It’s the first time I’d rear-clipped a car, but nowhere near my first tub job.”

This surgery turned the four-door into a two-seater, with an integrated rollcage by Drag Car Fabrications tying into the chassis to help improve the HR’s rigidity. A new transmission tunnel was also fitted to allow for the car’s now tar-burning ride height.

WHEELS: Wilwood six-pot and four-pot disc brakes are hidden behind Weld RTS wheels, spanning 17×6 up front and steamroller 15x15s out back. They’re wrapped in Outlaw Drag 175/70R17 and Mickey Thompson 29×18.00R15 tyres, respectively

The body was made gun-barrel straight, and then Jeff Briffa painted it in the original Landale Gold colour it sported from the factory, albeit this time with a black roof. If Mr Briffa’s name is familiar, he’s painted countless Street Machine feature cars and had his own groundbreaking gold VL Walky on the cover of our July-August 1999 issue.

BOOT: The boot houses the nitrous tank and the Proflow 80L fuel cell, which boasts twin DeatschWerks in-tank pumps. There is also a mechanical Aeromotive pump up front, which will be needed once Mark has finished the new Dart-block stroker mill for the car

While the HR had rocked a saucy red motor and a tough SBC in the past, Mark decided to tread a different path for the car’s resurrection and fit a turbocharged, 3.0-litre Toyota 2JZ six-cylinder. “I’ve done the V8 thing, and I like doing different things,” Mark explains. “I put the Nissan in my other HR, and since then I kind of became a turbo guy. I also looked at putting a Barra in this car, but while they’re the right length, they’re just too tall for the HR engine bay.”

UNDERNEATH: The 135mm-thick Plazmaman intercooler behind the grille meant squeezing a radiator up front wasn’t going to happen, so the custom rad and big Spal electric fan live behind the 9in diff. The latter has been filled with Race Products full-floater hubs, 300M 35-spline axles, Truetrac LSD and 3.7:1 gears

Renowned for its ability to make mountains of power and torque, the DOHC JZ engine has long been dishing out smackdowns on drag strips around the world. Part of the six’s legendary status is due to its nickel-tough bottom end. Boasting an iron block, boost-friendly 8.5:1 compression and beefy conrods from factory, these mills have no problem making double their factory 280hp rating with a stock bottom end.

ENGINE BAY: While the tough turbo 2JZ has already made 529hp at the wheels, Mark also has a 150hp shot of nitrous at his disposal to really get it boogying. The in-tank fuel pumps push go-juice to the custom header tank in the engine bay, joined as a one-piece unit to the catch can. Mark went to the effort of hiding as many lines and hoses as possible, tucking the –10 fuel feed and return hoses behind the guards

Mark has left his alone for now, but he did have Rams Head Service work the Yamaha-designed cylinder head to take 1mm-oversize Ferrea valves, 290/290 Kelford cams, and solid lifters. That’ll ensure it’s ready to make serious power once Mark builds a new, far spicier short motor. “It will get a Dart-block 3.2-litre stroker later on, but for now, I wanted something I could drive around and get used to,” he says.

A huge Garrett G42 turbo sits on a custom, six-into-one Pro Mod-style manifold by Sonny at TURBO1, with boost regulated by a 60mm Turbosmart wastegate featuring CO2 boost control. The Plazmaman Pro Series forward-facing intake is fitted with an 84mm Bosch drive-by-wire throttlebody and 12 Bosch injectors – six 1000cc and six 2200cc – to hose E85 into the thirsty 3.0-litre.

All this hardware was hardly going to be run on a standard 90s Toyota PCM; instead, the car is controlled by a Haltech R5 Nexus and PD16 PDM, wired in and tuned by Dale Heiler. Running E85, the tough turbo 2J made 529rwhp on just 21psi, turning the tyres over 7000rpm.

ROLLCAGE: Having built plenty of cars, Mark knew he needed to future-proof his HR. “I set this one up as a radial car, but it’s street-registered and engineered,” he says. “It will do a bit of racing, which is why it has a 7sec ’cage in it”

“Not much happens until 5000rpm with these cams and that enormous turbo,” Mark laughs. “But it is all there for when I put the big motor in it.”

The air-operated PPP Race Shifter works on a full-house BTE Top Sportsman Pro Series Powerglide under the custom trans tunnel. Spun by a 5000rpm Dominator converter, the ’Glide is mounted to the 2JZ with an adapter plate from ATF Speed

With the aim of running seven-second ETs and taking on the big-power GT-R Skylines at roll racing, Mark is going to enjoy pushing that fearsome Toyota 2JZ legacy in a bold new direction in his wild HR Prem.

MARK PSAILA
1966 HOLDEN HR PREMIERPaint:Landale GoldENGINEBrand:Toyota 2JZ-GTE 3.0L six-cylinderInduction:Plazmaman Pro Series 12-injector, 84mm throttlebody, NX EFI nitrousECU:Haltech Nexus R5, Haltech PD16 PDMTurbo:Garrett G42-1450Head:Ported by Rams Head Service, solid lifters, oversized Ferrea valves, upgraded springsCamshafts:Kelford 290/290, Brian Crower cam wheelsConrods:StockPistons:StockCrank:StockOil pump:PHR high-volume, custom sumpFuel system:Aeromotive mechanical pump, twin DeatschWerks 265L/h lift pumps, six Bosch 2200cc injectors, six Bosch 1000cc injectorsCooling:Custom radiator, Spal thermo fanExhaust:Custom six-into-one manifold, 4in dump, 4in system, Racecraft muffler, 60mm Turbosmart wastegateIgnition:R35 Nissan GT-R coil-on-plugTRANSMISSIONGearbox:BTE PowerglideConverter:Dominator 5000rpmDiff:9in, Truetrac LSD, Race Products full-floater hubs, 300M 35-spline axles, 3.7:1 gearsSUSPENSION & BRAKESFront:Viking adjustable struts, custom 27mm sway-barRear:Custom rear clip, Gazzard Brothers mono-leaf springs, adjustable shocks and anti-roll barBrakes:Wilwood 320mm discs and six-pot calipers (f), Wilwood 290mm discs and four-pot calipers (r)Master cylinder:WilwoodWHEELS & TYRESRims:Weld RTS S71; 17×6 (f), 15×15 (r)Rubber:Outlaw Drag 175/70R17, Mickey Thompson Sportsman 29×18.00R15 (r)

THANKS
Dave at Killer Customs; Jeff Briffa for panel and paint; Alan for the trim; Sonny at TURBO1 for the extractors; Dale Heiler for wiring and the dyno tune; Rob at Race Bolts for all the titanium bolts; 247 Hose & Fittings; Eric for the 3D printing; Drag Car Fabrications for the rollcage; B.Y Performance for the tubs and tinwork; Paul at Proflow; Nick at VPW.

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