Images kindly supplied by Street Machine

Fast Facts:

• Street Machine magazine giveaway and cover car, built in 2003 before appearing at Summernats 17 and being given away in 2004

• Recently bought back and restored by Street Machine more than 20 years after its original build, before being given away again in June 2026

The Details:

‘VUFORU’ is an icon of Australian street machine culture, built by none other than Street Machine themselves as a giveaway car. 

The story began in 2003, when the magazine was handed a former Holden development mule with a simple proposal: “have a bit of fun with it - nothing too extravagant - then give it away”. The Street Machine Crew put their full creative and technical might behind the build, which would appear on the cover of the magazine in January 2024 before heading to the Street Machine stand at Summernats 17. Its name paid tribute to HQFORU, another magazine giveaway car built almost two decades earlier in 1986.

More than 20 years on in 2025, Street Machine saw an opportunity to buy the car back. Making it happen, they enlisted the help of Jason Waye at Tuff Mounts and Revive Paint & Panel and Nightmare Designs, and spent the next few months restoring it to its former glory. With the car back in fine order, they gave it away again in June 2026. And now, we’re proud to offer it to market.

The exterior was designed by Ryan Carter of Stylemaster Designworks, combining black and green paint with purple flames, with the finish done by Mat Egan from Extreme Designs. The cabin received an equally bold all-red treatment with Sparco bucket seats.

Bold barely cuts it for the set of big-and-small Bonspeed billet wheels - 18 x 8-inch at the front and a massive 24 inches at the rear. Fitting these required a mini-tubbed rear with the guards stretched 100 mm to provide space, custom arms and axles and the IRS cradle moved 50 mm upwards. Air suspension installed by Tubular Suspension Systems completes the setup.

To keep up with the out-there looks, the 5.7-litre Gen III V8 was also modified with a Crow cam and MAFless chip tune, breathing through a VCM over-the-radiator intake and Di Filippo exhaust and sending power through a 3.9:1 limited-slip differential fitted by Central Diffs. Originally built with a T56 manual, the transmission is now a TH350 three-speed auto. 

A VZ Monaro bonnet, Auto Meter gauges and individual throttle body intake have also been fitted since the original build. Inside, VUFORU now features a Haltech eC-10 digital dash and Mako Motorsport cluster with a custom layout by Scott Barter. These were installed after photography was completed.

Street Machine believes the car to have passed through the hands of approximately six owners since they gave it away the first time, making the seller its seventh.

VUFORU survives as a distinctive piece of Street Machine history and is a remarkably faithful reminder of the Australian show-car scene at the turn of the millennium.

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