If you thought Aussies had an overhyped, bland car culture, then please explain why America's top car influencers have set camp in a small country town 4 hours away from Sydney. That little town is home to Australia's baddest motorsports arena – Cootamundra Airport. It recently hosted one of the territory's gnarliest street racing competitions – the TurboSmart Ultimate Street Car Competition.
If you've been following our stories, you probably read our piece on a 1,500 hp (1,521 ps) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI showcased by That Racing Channelat the event or Hoonigan's This Vs. That showdown between a 2014 Holden VF Commodore and a 2001 Nissan S15 Silvia at the same venue.
On a recent upload, the Hoonigan outfit presented yet another head-to-head tire-shredding takedown between two unlikely competitors: a pick-up truck and a family van.
Don't get me wrong. This isn't your normal farm hand or soccer mom minivan fighting for a parking spot at your local convenience store. The classic Japanese pick-up is allegedly pushing close to four digits on the dyno, while the grocery-getter hides a legendary badass powertrain under the hood.
The classic pick-up truck in question doesn't need any introduction among classic car enthusiasts. It's a 1973 Datsun 1200 UTE owned by Adam.
They say never judge a book by its cover, but the Datsun 1200 UTE leaves nothing to your imagination. The first thing you'll spot is a massive blower protruding from its tiny hood – if you are keen enough, you'll also notice its F**DAT license plate.
Well, that's the same reaction you'll get when you pop the hood lid off this tiny Japanese truck. It's running a cast iron 6-liter GM LQ4 short motor (factory crank) and an 871 blower protruding up top. The setup makes a whooping 950 hp (963 ps). It packs a Turbo 400 three-speed automatic transmission to harness all that power.
Chasing the 1973 Datsun 1200 UTE down the Cootamundra Airport track is a familiar minivan at the school pick-up and drop-off point – a drift 2004 Honda Odyssey. According to the owner, Jay, the van started (like most of them do) as a family kart but was later converted to handle like a Nissan 350Z – a drift minivan of sorts.
Under the hood, it packs a familiar powerplant, a Toyota 2JZ engine. Jay says the setup is good for about 500 hp (507 ps). It's a stock unit running an aftermarket turbo manifold, G30 900 turbo, and a turbosmart 60 mm wastegate.
What matters at the Hoonigan This Vs. That series is who gets to the finish line first. When it was time to bolt, the Honda Minivan quickly reminded us why it's the most common car at the school drop-off point. The Datsun won by two cars.
The second race was a roll race, and the Datsun 1200 UTE brought out the demon behind its tiny frame and gapped the Honda Odyssey by several cars. In Gary's own words, "The Datsun was getting smaller, but the van ain't getting no bigger." The Odyssey had no chance from the start. It was chunkier and underpowered compared to the Datsun.
Are you curious how much the Datsun gapped the Odyssey? We'll let you figure that out for yourself in the video below.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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