You know, what sparks someone’s interest in building or buying a car can often be quite amusing. For Grant Hannah, it all began with the sight and sound of an ex-AA breakdown Toyota Hilux, fitted with a Toyota 1-UZ, owned by Michael Pikens at the time. Michael, an apprentice Auto Electrician working in the neighbouring shop at Bay Collision Repairs, would leave work every day, drop a gear and treat the street to a smokey burnout. That distinctive sound and appearance lived rent free in Grant’s mind. During one of their chats, Michael casually mentioned he was planning to sell it. That was music to Grant’s ears, as he had his own visions for it and just had to make it his own.
In the first year of owning the Hilux, Grant made some simple upgrades — a set of better wheels, a fresh coat of light blue paint, and even an eight-throttle body manifold with ITBs. Sounds pretty sweet,
