Terry Ibrahim wasn’t the first teenage boy to fall in love with motor sports, nor would he be the last. The speed, the sound, the look, the vibrations. But for Terry, it was everything that went on behind the scenes in the lead up to the rubber striking the track that truly captured his imagination.
From a young age Terry was building and racing his own drag racing cars, fascinated by the depth of world class manufacturing that made these machines go. It was a passion that would ultimately lead Terry down the path of a decorated manufacturing career, operating on the cutting edge of modern knowledge and techniques.
His business, Machine Technology, gives their clients the edge they need to stay ahead of the pack through innovative solutions and quality craftsmanship, much like a leading race team would do for their driver before race day.
Terry’s passion for motorsports and high grade manufacturing coalesced in a perfect symphony three and half years ago when he bought a 1970 Holden HG GTS Monaro which had been sitting dormont in a shed in Adelaide for the past thirty five years. With the goal of restoring the Monaro to its former hot rod glory, Terry embarked on a mission that would see him fulfil every wish his teenage self had ever dreamt of. Finally, he could be the one working behind the scenes before race day.
The project consisted of two parts, the restoration of the vehicle and the high performance upgrades. Armed with his years of engineering knowledge, as well as some useful pieces of equipment and technology from his business, Terry began designing and manufacturing custom, unique parts to create a one of one Monaro.
Terry wanted to move the air conditioning pumps and the power steering to the rear of the vehicle, which required custom made mounting systems and additional changes to the positioning of the fuel cells and braking system components. These changes were made with the vision of installing a 750HP 565 cubic inch Brodix “Fat Rat” aluminium big block engine block, more often seen in high performance drag racing cars. This helped to transform the formerly stagnant vessel into a genuine mean street machine, a task not possible without the innovative thinking and engineering savvy of Terry and the Machine Technology team.
The restoration continued with a complete nut and bolt restoration, removing all that came before with brand new, higher spec nuts and bolts that helped to hold firm the essence of the classic vehicle. All the old paint work was stripped to bare metal and rusted panel sections removed, replaced with custom moulded sheet metal that remained true to the original shape. Finished with a vibrant lick of fresh paint, Terry’s Holden HG GTS Monaro was left looking like it had just rolled off the factory floor back in 1970, only with a whole lot more guts.
Terry knew that every good car needed a name, but luckily for him, the Monaro had all but named itself not long after he bought it. With plans already in mind to install a “Fat Rat” engine block in the Monaro, Terry and his team were in the process of removing the old roof lining when they unknowingly disturbed a graveyard of rats. As the dead rat skeletons rained upon Terry’s head and down his shirt, it seemed like the Monaro had all but claimed the name for itself, and would hence be referred to as the Fat Rat.
