HEY THERE DELILAH

A 20B ROTARY, SEQUENTIAL GEARBOX, COMPLETE ONE-OFF CHASSIS AND AMAZING FABRICATION ALL CAUGHT OUR EYE ON SSCUSTOM'S MAZDA 800 UTE AT MOTOREX 23

- KIAN HEAGNEY

AMONG all the amazing finished machines on display at Meguiar's MotorEx each year, you'll always find one ortwo gems still under construction that are just as worthy of your attention.

In 2024, it was Rob Fekete's 1970 Ford F100 pre-runner that sparked our interest, and at this year's event, we were captivated by the SsCustom Mazda 800 ute in the Mobil 1 Performance World hall.

Owned by SsCustom frontman Stacy Smyth, the little Mazda affectionately known as 'Delilah' is a fun side project to showcase what his business's fabrication tools can do. “I found it on Marketplace, and being a Kiwi, I love Mazdas,” he says. “I started out by building the chassis for it, which is all completely new and different; the only things the same as the original are the body mount positions and the wheelbase.”