WHILE it wasn’t the first car to leave HSV’s Clayton skunkworks (that honour goes to the Walkinshaw), the VL SV88 can lay claim to being the first HSV car to wear its own moniker instead of a Commodore nameplate. Despite its undeniable place in the Lion’s history, Tim Laidler found his real-deal example languishing in a mate’s backyard as a rolling shell. Though he now owns seven Commodores, he admits he’d never heard of the SV88 when he stumbled over the car. “It had been sitting in a paddock and was in terrible condition,” he says. “I just fell in love with the Walkinshaw-style seats and the colour-coded bars and wheels.”
This build started in 2018, when Ultimate Metalworks fabbed up the tubs, diff and gorgeous sheet-metal engine bay over a three-year period. After some COVID-induced delays, Johnston Speed Shop in Campbelltown took over in
