CODE BROWN

A FEW years ago, Darwin local Joe Thring caught wind that Matt James was thinking of selling his iconic VF Commodore burnout ute, UNWANTED.

- STORY BORIS VISKOVIC PHOTOS JORDAN LEIST

After some conversations between the two and more soul-searching by Matt, he couldn't bring himself to part with it, but he instead offered to build Joe something much better through his business, Unwanted Automotive.

At the time, Joe had recently sold a tough VF GTS built by BNR Engines. Under Joe's ownership, it wore DEATHROW plates, but others will know it better as GAME OVER, which Chris Orchard now campaigns. Prior to that car, Joe owned a VE ute, and he was keen to get into another one. “The idea behind going for a sedan was being able to share the thrill of burnouts with friends and family by taking them along as passengers,” he explains. “But despite the practicality, I couldn't shake the feeling that the sedan was more of a grandpa's car, and I still longed for a ute.”

The hunt began for a suitable donor, but a good late-model roller wasn't as easy to track down as you might expect. Neither Matt nor Joe could find the right shell to cut up and turn into a skid car, so Joe ended up buying a pretty tidy SV6 Thunder. “I couldn't find a wreck anywhere and I was too impatient, so I bought a car for $35,000," he says. “It was a going, registered vehicle, and I sent it to Matt to wreck it! I wanted a good body because I thought I might save some money on panel and paint.” The ute only had 90,000km on the clock, so it was in pretty good nick, but as you can see from the photos, there was still no holding back on the exterior.