THE BIG BT

SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE, AND SOMETIMES YOU NEED BOTH.

- DAN EVERETT

TO THE outside observer, the world of 4x4s and 4x4 modifications has never heard of the term ‘less is more’. We’re almost obsessed with adding. Bigger motors, bigger tyres, bigger batteries, bigger driving lights. And while a couple of tonnes of 4x4 mobbing down the track might look impressive, it’s not always the right tool for the job, you wouldn’t hang a picture hook with a sledgehammer now would you?

Enter Lal’s insane BT-50 – one of the most modified BT-50s you’ll find anywhere in the country, and also one of the smallest. Let us explain.

Starting with a bone-stock 2014 single-cab BT-50, Lal set out to build something a little different than the rest, and he started from the frame up. Where a stock BT-50 has a huge 3226mm between the front and rear axles, Lal called in the guys from Ultimate Stretches to cut his pride and joy in half, remove 300mm from the chassis behind the cab, and stitch the whole lot back together better than stock. The new wheelbase gets the off-road ability more in line with the classic 80 Series LandCruisers and GQ Patrols and helps make the BT far more nimble on tight tracks. While the grinder was out, the overhang at the rear of the frame was knocked back all the way to the leaf hangers, giving a useable tray size closer to a dual cab – we weren’t kidding when we said Lal had built something unique.