The biggest regret Ellis "Spike" Dickson has about his highly unusual local Summernats car-building project is his father won't be around to see it rolled out of the garage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer, his father died before the project began to take proper shape.
So the outrageous little Suzuki Mighty Boy ute will be a tribute to the father-and-son collaboration when it joins the "best of" cars inside the security-sealed main judging pavilion for Summernats 35, which opens its doors to the public on Thursday morning.
However, getting the tiny Japanese car to the show has been a race against time, with Spike and five mates working at fever pitch inside a two-door garage in Monash on Wednesday afternoon to beat the 6pm deadline for when the pavilion's doors are closed and judging begins.
"When the Summernats team rang me and said they wanted the car in there for the main display, that really put the pressure on," Spike said.
"But we'll get there, we've only got a few bits and pieces left to do," he said confidently as the last of the wiring was being knitted in place and the door paint received a final buff.
The Mighty Boy micro-car was produced for five years between 1983 and 1988 by small car specialist Suzuki. It was built as a so-called Kei class car with a 550cc engine, which is the smallest registerable highway passenger car permitted on Japanese roads.
However, this Canberra street machine, repainted in Kawasaki Ninja green, is a very long way from the original, although it keeps the tiny exterior dimensions of the production car.
Under the bonnet now is a high-revving Mazda 13B rotary engine, shoehorned to fit, and driving the rear wheels. Lift the rear lid where the cargo box once was and there are two enormous tyres with a tiny fuel tank sandwiched in between. The whole car weighs only about 700kg.
Spike bought the body for $150 from a young local chap and had it leaning against the wall of his garage while a complete new steel chassis was fabricated to sit underneath and support the engine, suspension and drivetrain.
The phone call to get the car to Summernats judging pushed the build schedule into breakneck pace, with the painting only completed around 5am on Monday.
"I'm feeling pretty tired; there's been a lot of hours gone into this," he said.
"But I'm really lucky; the boys have just jumped in and helped out. Without them, I wouldn't have got there."
He said the goal with the Mighty Boy - dubbed 13B Boy - was to create something really different and one that he hoped would inspire others to follow the same eclectic path.
"There's so many cars at Summernats that are similar; this car is just out there and that's why it's so cool," he said.
"I don't care if I win trophies or anything with it. If it gets one young bloke to go: 'wow, I want to do something radical like that', then that's good enough for me."
Australian and US-built heavy metal still dominates the 72 elite vehicles which will go under cover and be revealed to the public for the first time from 7.30pm on Thursday. Of those 72 cars, a record 24 will be seen for the first time.
Chief judge Owen Webb said the quality of the show cars keeps rising every year, as does the attention to detail.
"There's one car here where all the interior trim was carefully removed and replicated using a 3-D printer so the surfaces could be skinned perfectly with leather," he said.
Colours are changing, too although there's precious few exhibitors brave enough to go for a matte paint finish.
"The traditional colours are still strong but there's also a shift toward the original equipment manufacturer colours that you see from Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche," he said.
One of the unseen cars is a 1976 Chevrolet ute which has been brought all the way up from Hobart, Tasmania, via a specialist motor trimmer in Nowra.
Hobart denture maker David Stratton has been building the Chev for seven years and will be nervously waiting to see what the judges make of his labour of love.
Last year's grand champion Jason Mansweto, from western Sydney, says the pressure is off for this year as he returns to Summernats with his multiple award-winning Ford Fairmont.
"There's no pressure this year; I've taken this car all over Australia and competed in it everywhere from Rockhampton to Alice Springs so it has a few [paint] chips and some wear and tear," he said.
"I thought it was the right thing to do to bring it back this year so people who couldn't get to Summernats last year because of the COVID restrictions could see it."
IN OTHER NEWS:
A Morris Minor has made the final judging for the first time in Summernats history, too.
Al Magritzer's 1959 Morris has an extraordinary attention to detail and even uses a factory paint colour - Palm Green - which the retired car parts retailer from Lithgow, NSW, says he chose "to keep the purists happy".
The immaculate little Morris has spats over its rear wheels and a specially-crafted rear wheel carrier, as well as a supercharged 1.3 litre engine from an Austin Healey.
"I've been entering Summernats since it started but this is the first one of my cars has made the top 60 in 11 years," he said proudly.
On Thursday, 500 cars will cruise down Northbourne Ave, U-turning at London Circuit and return to Exhibition Park. The annual City Cruise starts at noon.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
