Engineered To Slide; there’s a good chance you already follow Nigel’s blog and know all about his impressive two and four wheeled projects, both past and present. When I first started this blog, I launched it with a handful of builds already published from the get-go, and one of those was the ETS S13 Silvia, knowing that I just had to include something from his stable when I launched Build Threads. Â A couple of years later I was super excited to see his new project taking shape – a scratch-built Toyota Hilux with Nissan S15 running gear – and just had to make a post about it when it wasn’t yet much more than a mockup. After many updates and blog posts over the span of a few years, I had absorbed every image and every word Nigel had posted about his one-off creation. Now here we are, years later, and it’s still just as impressive as it was when it was first completed. Nigel has just posted a retrospective post on the journey with 100 images of his choice, a perfect opportunity to re-live the build…
Tag: hilux
Greengoon – retro afficionado
Since I’m a regular Ratsun browser from way back, I became very familiar with a certain green 510 wagon belonging to Greengoon, aka Duane. This wagon was always a bit different from the others, especially with it’s folding ragtop. I always looked forward to updates over the past few years, especially enjoying his DIY solutions to getting the ‘goon sitting closer to the ground and various tyre size testing on later-model OEM wheels. Heading over to the Non-Datsun section of the forum made me realise Duane’s penchant for old cars wasn’t restricted to just Datsuns, as he had another 2 project cars under his belt from the Toyota stable, including one very charismatic ’71 Hilux. I’m not the only one to sit up and take note of Duane’s skills, he was even the subject of his own Depth of Speed video, arguably the best series of automotive videos on the net (if you ask me). Head below to familiarise yourself with this trio of vintage vehicles.
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Retromod Toyota Tacoma
Well here’s a first, I cant’ say I’ve ever featured an expedition truck before, nor have I read a build with the words “can be loaded safely in a 20-foot container with one or two NATO crates of supplies behind it”. The owner of this rig had gotten the most out of his trusty FJ Cruiser, so he decided to create a new expedition vehicle with some retro flavour. Instead of scouring the classifieds for a well-worn 70’s-80’s truck and having to go through the whole restoration process before even beginning to modify it for his needs (including a shortened bed), he began this build with a brand new 2012 Toyota Tacoma and proceeded to turn back the clock aesthetically to create what he cleverly calls a “retromod”.
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1:10 Hilux RC build
This hand-made Hilux is the third scaled-down build I’ve featured here, but this one differs slightly from the others. While it’s still a 1:10 RC car, this one doesn’t limit itself to plastic materials and resin, the builder has gone to the extreme effort of making his own metal panels from hand-made wooden bucks. There’s so much detail in this awesome little rock crawler, I don’t know where to begin.
TT Hilux Rock-Crawler
Check out this crazy Hilux build from Pirate4x4.com. Lots of fabrication and custom work, just the way we like it.
