KING HIT

A CLASSIC DATSUN BODY, S15 FRONT END AND A SCREAMING BLOWN LS COMBINE TO CREATE A NEXT-LEVEL SKID MACHINE

-  MARK ARBLASTER

THE standard of burnout cars in Australia has gone through the roof in the past decade or so. Top 60-quality cars are now a common sight on pads around the country, and the stakes are being raised each year.

One of the guys doing the raising is Thomas McManaway in his insane Datsun 1200 ute. The Queensland-based LS fanatic has a stack of Chinese Chev-powered bullets, including S15 and 180SX drift cars, and a staunch VF ClubSport. The Datsun was something completely different.

"The Datto plan all started a couple of years ago when I was watching Summernats burnout videos with mates and joked that we should build something," Thomas recalls.

"We got onto Gumtree that day and found a little Datto ute sitting in a farm shed up near Jimboomba, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

"So, we headed up there, and there it was, sitting behind a Massey tractor, dents and all - no interior; just a roller."

Thomas made a deal with the farmer, pushed the ute onto the trailer, and the bad ideas started from there.

"As a shell, it wasn't horrible," he says. "It was very simple, and it fitted with our simple theme of a Datsun 1200 with 1200hp on tap.

"We started ordering parts and wanted to build something stupid, initially as just a burnout car. Then I saw some big Weld rims for sale and figured we might as well see if we can go fast as well."

To achieve the goal of having a car that could do it all, Thomas called on the expertise of Spot On Performance. "I told the boys I wanted them to build me a full tube-chassis car that could do Powercruise, drag race and rip off mental skids as well," he says.