THE Ummmal SUSPECT

FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE

- IAIN KELLY

MINI-TRUCKS aren't Street Machine's usual fare, and funnily enough, they weren't Darryl 'Paz' Penton's chosen flavour either, despite the photos before you suggesting otherwise. The Sydneysider admits he was more of an M LS Commodore man before he bought this epic, supercharged V8-powered 1998 HiLux.

"I had an E3 HSV Maloo with a Magnuson 2300-blown LS3 making just under 700hp at the wheels, but I'd go to shows and see all the same old things," Paz says. "I thought mini-trucks sucked, probably because all the ones I'd seen were half-built hack jobs, but I remember seeing this truck on CarSales, and I realised mini-trucks give you the freedom to build whatever you want, however you want. Purists look at muscle cars at shows and pick them apart, but nobody questions what you do in mini-trucking-sort of like hot rods." Despite its origins as a two-door tradie truck, Paz's slick pick-up, SED47E, can stand shoulderto-shoulder with some of the best street machines around, with mods that recall those on 50s customs. The fabrication, attention to detail, engineering and workmanship on display has landed it in the Summernats Top 60, and it's won plenty of other gongs through the years.

The 'Lux's current show-winning form is the result of gradual changes made by Paz as well as several previous owners. Before Paz carried the keys, a young fella named Ryan Williams owned the truck, which was initially known as TUX20S. Ryan had it airbagged by Norm Stewart, renamed the truck VEGAS, got it body-dropped and did the US Toyota Tacoma front-end conversion.