Leo Nech is a born petrol head. Hot Devil’s Managing Director currently roars about the roads in his HSV VF GTS, fitted with a W507 package, but his love for cars has been as ever-present as his passion for Hot Devil – a family-owned operation that’s been in business since 1999. Leo’s first car was an LJ Torana – one of the most iconic and beloved Aussie cars throughout the 1960s, ’70s and beyond.
But as they say, the light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long, and Leo’s Torana was sadly stolen after he’d had it just six months. “Some four years ago my son started to look around and happened to find one for sale in apparently reasonable condition,” he said.
“We drove to the person who advertised the car to find the Torana, with little rust, sitting in a garage. “The car only had two owners in its lifetime. After the purchase, we were able to drive it home – albeit with a great deal of smoke coming from the exhaust,” Leo explained.
Switched
Leo and his son’s newest purchase was thankfully rust-free, however it sported a ‘dull’ beige with plenty of work needed on the interior. Leo enlisted the help of a mechanic, painter and upholsterer to work on restoring the old beast. “We stripped the car to the bare shell and thus the process began,” he said.
“I decided to move away from the original beige duco and try an indy orange colour.” A particularly challenging part of the restoration for Leo was sourcing and restoring components. “Finding certain parts proved difficult,” Leo said. “I recall a time where we needed to find an inhibitor switch. I searched high and low for weeks to finally find a guy with a shed full of parts who could supply the switch.”
Purring along
The three-and-a-half year process saw the original brown leather become a full black interior, rebuilt suspension, and a 173/6-cylinder engine. “I recall the first drive out of the workshop,” Leo said. “I felt I was in the ’70s. “The wife and I constantly take the Torana out for Sunday drives. It handles great and purrs along. It feels like a go-cart. “Running a business these days can be stressful, but all is forgotten when you turn the key and the 50-year-old girl comes to life.”