24-year-old farmer Hamish Sandow built himself this unique VZ One Tonne ute as a show and burnout machine, which has now made it into the top 16 finalists for our 2023 Milwaukee Young Street Machine of the Year.

You can read more about Hamish’s ute below, and also give it a vote for a shot at winning $2500 cash just for having your say. How easy is that?!

“Originally, my ute was purchased with no intentions of getting it to where it is today, starting life as a basic six cylinder car.

When the build did get a bit out of hand, I had full intentions to get to Street Machine Summernats 34, but a wet and late harvest meant I wouldn’t get there. I then got a little over-excited and went the full hog! It’s now got a new L98 motor running two 1000cfm methanol carbies, an MSD box with Haltech iC-7 dash and a custom tilt tray I built myself.

It needed a V8 K-frame, which had to be modified to suit a bigger sump. It got fresh paintwork, a four-link, coil-overs all-’round, nine-inch diff, 35 spline axles and 3.7:1 gears. It runs a Clubsport front bumper and SS guards.

I’m a full-time farmer on a family farm with massive work commitments. I’m from a small country town called Barmedman, NSW. Building the ute was a long project; any weekend not working on the farm, I would work many hours on the ute.

I don’t know how many times I wanted to give up on the project, but being a nearly 24-year-old farmer, I have learnt to be a jack-of-all-trades. Having a fully equipped workshop and hoist on the farm made it handy to build the tray, rebuild the chassis, install the four-link and shave the engine bay.

A lot of thought and preparation had to go into ordering parts, as they came via post or freight pretty much 100 per cent of the time. If the part was a stuff-up, I’d have to wait at least a week for the correct replacement part.

The ute was fully rewired by a good mate on weekends, who is also a farmer. The motor was built by Dewar’s Performance Engines, making good horsepower at the back wheels.

The Powerglide transmission was built by ATS Automatics and the fuel cell, catch can and header tank was provided by Lowe Fabrications. The paint job was done by a local business, Make and Paint, in Son of a Gun Grey.”

Instagram: hamish_sandow

Now, check out the rest of the contenders below and cast your vote for the chance to win $2500!