Do you follow Nigel’s blog, Engineered to Slide? Well you should, he’s the crazy DIY fabricator behind two awesome S13 Nissan builds, one of which was part of the starting line-up of posts I made when this blog debuted. He’s just started a new project which I think you’ll be interested in, a hollowed-out Toyota Hilux ute/pickup being built around a custom chassis with a drive-line and suspension setup donated from an S15 Nissan Silvia. I’m very excited about this build because I know from Nigel’s previous work that it’s going to be finished, and finished to a high standard, this guy doesn’t muck around! Make sure you keep up with the progress by following the updates on his blog, I’ll be sure to post another update here as the build progresses further.
Tag: pickup
Syborg – Completed
Well this is a weird feeling, I’m posting an update on the first ever build that I featured on this site from way back in February of 2009. There’s a good chance some of you haven’t seen all of the builds I’ve posted during the life of the site, including this one, so click here to go back to the original post to locate the build thread link for this pro-touring masterpiece. Marty has been busy in the past year or so, so there’s plenty of work to catch up on.
R33 Skyline Ute
You most likely saw the finished product featured on Speedhunters last week, but have you seen the build of the R33 ute? Check after the jump for the link. If that isn’t enough sportscar-to-ute conversion action for you, then you can check out these previous features:
– Truckasaurus RX7
– BMW M5 ute
MX520
Here’s a build thread I’ve been reading for quite a long time, and I’ve got a slight suspicion that a lot of you are going to enjoy it. It’s another build based on the “X-chassis underneath Y-body” formula, and this time the culprits are Mazda MX5 subframes/driveline/shock towers being attached to the body of a Datsun 520 pickup.
When it all comes together after a long and creative build process, Bob takes his DIY hybrid creation to the track and shows up some much more expensive machinery. Here’s a small snippet from one of his race outing results to give you an idea:
Position 3 – 1:08.886 – 1966 Datsun MX520
Position 4 – 1:10.366 – 2003 Corvette Z06
You can’t help but sit back and smile when that happens. Check after the jump to see how this track day sleeper was built…
BOWLS Tuner Challenge Update
BMW M5 Ute
Cereal submitted this build to me, but it’s something I saw years ago while reading Street Machine Magazine when the car was still a concept. It belongs to professional Aussie golfer Stuart Appleby, and it shows what happens when you’re a BMW nut with a whole lot of disposable income. An M5 sedan is given the ute/pickup treatment to fit some golf clubs in the back, with all the body work being fabricated the old school way, in metal.
Project PT-57 Chevy Truck
Okay, I’ve waited long enough and I’ve made an executive decision. I’ve been watching this build for a while, waiting for it to be finished but I can’t wait any longer. It’s going to be debuted at the upcoming SEMA show, where I’m sure it will be photographed by numerous websites, so I wanted to show it to you guys first. Just take a look at the Solid Works renderings of the parts built for the project and you’ll see why I’m such a fan of this build. I wonder if the people who built cars at the factories back in the 50/60s/70s would ever dream they’d be getting this much love in the new millennium. We have the pro-touring crowd to thank for that (and their deep pockets!)
Some quick stats:
LQ4 6.0L V8, 4L80E transmission, custom chassis, air-ride, C4 Corvette suspension, rear mount twin turbo, C6 Z06 Corvette brakes.
Truckasaurus FC RX7 Pickup
Japanese hatches such as the FC RX7 and S13 180SX make great candidates for pickup conversions, as we’ve seen before in Japan with a few drift cars getting the chop.
Earl has created his own spin on the concept with this 2nd Gen RX7, come and see it get built and continually evolve.
1941 Chevy ex WW2 truck
Traditional hot rods, rat rods, and kustoms command huge respect, if only for the sole fact that the builders will only use a combination of used and custom made parts. When I say used, I don’t mean a few years old, I mean decades old. It’s hard for most of us to grasp the idea, as we’re too used to jumping online and ordering that next part we need.
This 1941 Chev comes from the H.A.M.B., an awesome community of people who love anything and everything to do with traditional hot rods, including lifestyle, culture and artwork. I will be featuring a few builds from these forums in the future, including cars made from what most of us would consider scraps of metal, so keep an eye out if you dig this sort of thing.
Syborg Twin Turbo – 4.3l v6 TT Mini-Truck
Over in Chicago, a guy named Marty – in conjunction with some key sponsors and talented workshops – has been building his ultimate GMC Syborg pick-up. The car is being created in Pro-Touring style, with many custom touches and countless hours of labour invested in the project. This is a high caliber build, using the latest technology and all the best parts.
Continue reading “Syborg Twin Turbo – 4.3l v6 TT Mini-Truck”