Bryce McCabe’s super-tough, self-built XR sedan was one of your favourite picks in last year’s Milwaukee Young Street Machine of the Year, and now he’s back for another round! Check out the story of the car in Bryce’s own words below, and check out come more build pics on his Instagram.

Will he take home $2500 and snag a full feature in SM? You decide! Voting is open now, so click here to see all 16 finalists!

“I guess it all started when I was young; dad was a Ford man, always playing with Falcons and other Fords. I also live on the outskirts of Sydney, just past Thirlmere, home of the toughest street cars. From there, obviously I had to keep the dream going like most boys and buy a project.

The main passion for what I do and love began at 16 or 17, when I started my automotive refinishing apprenticeship learning the ins and outs of paint and bodywork. I put my heart and soul into most jobs, but I loved the resto and old-school work more.

Every day from then I’d be searching for a perfect project (obviously it had to be a Falcon). When I was 17 a random bloke messaged me with pictures of a barn find XR that had been sitting for 20-plus years. This was the one! Sure enough, one month later I had it in the shed stripped apart, not knowing what I was in for.

From then and there I wanted a tubbed and low-stance build, so out came the grinder. I threw myself in the deep end there as I was learning along the way. From there I installed the tubs and boot floor myself, as well as shaving the bay.

Most rust sections I could do myself; for some harder parts I had the help of a fabricator. That included the four-linked McDonald Bros sheetmetal nine-inch and chromoly rollcage.

Once all the fab work was done I spent countless hours after work and on weekends, until midnight most nights, getting the bodywork done. From there I laid down a factory Platinum Blue Ford colour. I picked this as my dad has one the same, and I wanted a father-son combo.

All the while I was saving most of my weeks’ apprentice wages for the running gear and everything else, while working cashies and doing overtime to pay for any parts. The 393 Cleveland pushes a healthy 675hp and is backed by a 800hp Al’s Race Glides C4.

Most nights after it was painted, I’d fit anything I had to go back on the car, once again mostly by myself, including brakes, fuel lines, suspension, engine, ‘box, new glass and windows, and refurbished chrome. I’ve built this car in my shed the best I could, with only the help I needed from shops (engine, ‘box, interior, wiring and diff, etc.).

I finished the car in January 2022 at the age of 21. The car is purposely street driven, mainly from work and my favourite – pub runs! At the moment it’s currently going through engineering to be 100 per cent legal, so more hassles with the police and RMS. Once this is cleared up I have plans to do Summernats every year, roll racing, drag racing and any other car events.

This car is my passion and gets touched probably every day still. I tinker around or come up with ideas for what I can change in the future. It keeps your brain ticking.

The amount of unseen work that goes into something like this is insane, and I guess it’s good to be appreciated sometimes, especially as part of the younger generation.”