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  Motorist Vince Micallef's 1982 VH Brock Holden Commodore SS sedan at his Rossmore home in Sydney. Photo Gallery

When Vince Micallef tells you he only drives his car on Sundays, and his wife used to have it as her daily shopping car, you expect to see something a little tamer than the reality.

Instead his fire-breathing 1982 Brock VH Commodore SS Group 3 beast is among the elite in the local muscle car world.  Micallef bought the car near-new in 1983. The VH had done just 3000km and was snapped up by a fan keen on high-performance machinery.

"I always wanted a performance car," he says. "My dream was an XU-1 or an A9X Torana but I happened to be in the right place at the right time and I bought it."

Since then the car has undergone major improvements while still retaining its original exterior looks.  As built, the red SS Group 3 came with its stand-out black wind-splitters on the mud-guards and its long, sleek bonnet scoop.  Out the back it boasts a subtle wing and distinctive black bumper lining.

The car was built at the height of Peter Brock's customised Holden Dealer Team Special Vehicles road car business.  He started it to provide road-going specials to the Holden dealers who were supporting his racing activities.

Brock started with the earlier VC model and those HDT Commodores, like Vince's VH model and the later Group A VK models, have become collector's items. Brock's team's conversion of the hottest Commodore into an even more special beast as sold was a pretty hot item in its day.

But Micallef sought to go a step further.  "I have customised it to my liking." he said. "There's nothing that I haven't improved on the car."  Underneath the skin his work included bumping the engine output to more than 500hp, installing an American high-performance Tremec TKO gearbox and adding racing-standard brakes and suspension set-ups.

And the car has also been re-sprayed to improve its lustre."I just want it to be perfect all the time."  And it has all proved worthwhile.  Micallef paid $20,000 for the car and with the modifications it is now nudging $100,000. Over the past few years he has entered the VH in shows, where it has excelled.

At the last Holden v Ford day show in Sydney in 2006, Micallef's machine won the best HDT and best model of its year and made the top 10 finalists.  And the whole project has been a family bonding exercise as his sons have become involved with the car.  "My wife used to use it as a daily shopping car. She was careful where she parked it though," he says.

One of his sons  took it to the Eastern Creek dragway where it achieved an 11-second pass over the old quarter-mile (400m).  "It keeps the family together, it keeps the boys together," he says.  Micallef now uses it only for shows and occasional club runs.

He has now owned it for 26 years and it has been his only performance machine.  Which is unlike many owners whose cars we feature  who have swapped and shuffled their collections around over the years.