SONG BIRD

AFTER THIS XY UTE HAD SAT AROUND IN PRIMER FOR 20 YEARS, IT TOOK JUST EIGHT MONTHS TO TURN IT INTO A TYRE-FRYING MONSTER

- STORY BORIS VISKOVIC PHOTOS JORDAN LEIST

AMONG a sea of tough cars at Motorvation 39, Bailey Djuric's XY Falcon ute was a standout. Basking in the late afternoon sun in the staging lanes on Saturday, the paint looked like an oil slick and the gold GT stripes were popping. It looked way too nice to throw around in a skid competition. But once that high-steppin' NASCAR motor fired up, the sound of 800-plus naturally aspirated horses was all that mattered.

This car was not only one of the best-presented at Motorvation, but it was one of the best-sounding as well. Designed to live at 9000rpm all day long, the dry-sumped, high-compression, bulletproof NASCAR engine is the perfect combination for a durable and reliable burnout motor. And did I mention it sounds amazing?

Bailey's driving style was quite accomplished, too. The way he kept the XY singing right around 9000rpm, just tickling the 9200rpm limit on very few occasions, was genuinely impressive. But this wasn't always the case. Bailey admits he was once one of those limiter-bashing guys.

"When you've got your cheap LS $10,000 bunky, it's a different story; you need it there for safety," he says. "But you don't sit on the limiter with something good!"