Plus+size Pounder

With big-dollar builds everywhere, this driveway built Hilux shows it’s possible to start with next to nothing and keep most of it.

- Brad Miskiewicz

IT’S funny how life throws things your way, like a two-wheel drive 2007 N70 Hilux for the princely sum of $500. As an ex-TV commercial hero car, it had starred as a tradie’s ute slamming into a roadside fruit stand, all in the name of safer driving. After a couple of weeks of daily-ing in the N70, the usual Maloo ride with the cam-lope, horrible drinking habit, and leg-day clutch pedal just didn’t seem as appealing. Selling off parts like the tradie rack and rear tub for a collective $500 brought the Hilux ledger back to nil. Hello, nobuxlux.

Being an entry-level WorkMate, standard amenities like power windows weren’t an option, but this is where the journey to the PHATT 4x4 you see before you began. Taking a look at the main loom found, Toyota had seen fit to include all the connections to simply plug in a power window unit. Mint.

The Interweb turned up a young bloke wrecking his crashed 2006 Hilux, but this one was a 4x4. Making a dash out to salvage some parts before the local wreckers got hold of it discovered a pretty decent KUN26 SR Hilux that, in my opinion, was too good to waste and with a bit of work, could be put back on the road with a minimum of fuss.

According to the owner it had sat for about a year, so after making sure it would run the deal was done. Furthermore, it had an encyclopedia-thick pile of paperwork showing an excellent service history for the life of the car. The idea formed to build a tough 4x4 capable of carrying all my commercial photographic gear to any location, for as cheaply as I could while leaving plenty of budget for some killer mods.