VAN WILDER

PETER MARRIOTT BUILT THIS TOUGH, 350 CHEV-POWERED HK PANEL VAN IN TRIBUTE TO THE LONG-LOST HT VAN OF HIS YOUTH

- BORIS VISKOVIC

WHEN Peter Marriott was a young bloke in the 80s, he built a Jade Green windowless HT panel van that was a pretty neat thing in its day. "My panel van had killer paint on it - as good as anybody had back then," he recalls. "My brother and I painted it and did all the panelwork ourselves."

But while Pete's HT looked great and had excellent trim, under the bonnet was a humble 202 six-cylinder, with gears shifted via a three-on-the-tree. As an apprentice electrician at the time, Peter didn't have the funds to go any wilder, and he ended up selling the van in 1986, instead focusing his attention on drag racing.

If you've had even a passing interest in West Aussie drag racing, you'll no doubt recognise the Marriott name. Between 1989 and 1996, Peter helped his brother Mick campaign a Pro Stock Camira, which went as quick as 8.45@159mph.

Then Peter's life priorities changed, and he sold all the parts he had accumulated over the years. But in 2018, his interest in cars was reignited after being inspired by his mate David Hopkin's killer EJ panel van (SM, Feb '11). He decided to try to track down his old HT pano, so he set up a Facebook account to put the word out over social media.

Although he came up empty-handed in that quest, Peter's efforts weren't entirely in vain. "Nathan Smith from Esperance contacted me and said that if I didn't find my old panel van, he had an HK that had been sitting in a shed for at least 20 years that he would sell me," he says. "I picked up the van in November 2019, and the fun began!"