STATE OF THE ART

WHO SAID YOU CAN'T MAKE A GOOD THING MUCH, MUCH BETTER?

- DEX FULTON

THEY say that art is the application of human skill and imagination, and honestly, it’s difficult to come up with a better summation of this rig. Meet Pete Newell, who owns Offroad & Outback in Romsey, Victoria. Pete has a long history with Toyotas owning no fewer than 10 of them over the years, most well modified.

Recently, he was shopping for a new bus to turn into his version of the ideal tourer, so it was a no-brainer to grab this ex-demo 300 Series LandCruiser as a bit of a blank canvas. From there he got somewhat carried away, but the result is nothing short of sensational.

Not only is his steed among the first 300s in the country to get modified into a ute (that number is growing daily), but it also has to be one of the neatest conversions we’ve seen. Ever. The details are often the difference between a hack job and something clean enough to eat off, and the longer you look at Pete’s Cruiser the more you appreciate the time taken and effort that’s gone into it. It’s like if Leonardo da Vinci, Ferrucio Lamborghini and Tony Stark decided to work together on a ute-chop. It’s really about as good as they get.

GETTING STARTED 

THIS was always going to be built into Pete’s perfect touring weapon, so the usual mods were quickly fitted up as soon as the ink was dry on the rego papers. TJM was called upon to provide XGS Roamer struts and shocks at each corner along with matching XGS coils. Pete and his team at Offroad & Outback fitted them up in the workshop and, at the same time, the GVM was upgraded to 4200kg, while the GCM was bumped up to 7700kg. This means the Cruiser can legally pull the maximum 3500kg behind it when fully loaded.