BACK IN MY DAY

GEN Z ARE TAKING TO THE TRACKS, AND DOING IT IN STYLE.

- DAN EVERETT

“THEY don’t make them like they used to.”

It’s a phrase repeated day after day, year after year, through countless country pubs, 4x4 workshops, and the comments section every time we post a review of a new 4x4. People gripe about the youth of today, the vehicles and the music, and why all three were better back in the day.

But the future ain’t all doom and gloom, especially if Perth-based 20-year-old Sivan is anything to go by. On any given weekend you won’t find Sivan strapped to YouTube or tweeting his life away; he’ll be out in the hills, exploring the best parts of Australia’s West Coast in one of the neatest 60 Series ’Cruisers we’ve seen in the past 30 years. “I was originally looking for a 105 or 80,” Sivan told us. “Eventually I found the 60 and just loved the old-school design.”

Despite being commonly mistaken for a 61 or 62 due to the rectangle headlights, it’s actually a clean-as-a-whistle HJ60 complete with a pushrod non-turbo 4.0-litre diesel under the bonnet. From here, Sivan tweaked and tuned the oil-burner to make it far more liveable with the higher speeds of the new millennium.

Starting from the intake there’s now a four-inch straight shot into the engine bay, thanks to the one-off stainless-steel snorkel handbuilt by the guys at Craftsmen Metal Works. At the business end you’ll find none other than a CT26 turbo, donated to the build from a later model factory turbo-diesel LC80. It’s pumping a respectable 15psi out the other end, before a monster 600x300 top-mount intercooler reigns in the intake temperatures. The Holden Colorado bonnet scoop is the only external clue of the significant power upgrades to the old girl. Spent exhaust gases make their way rearwards through a three-inch turbo-back exhaust system, and a heavy-duty clutch mates the whole lot up to the OEM five-speed cog-swapper.