JASMINE ‘Jazzy’ Green was the winner of the 2020 Laurie Starling Scholarship, recognising the amazing fabrication work that the young Shepparton-based barista had done to her LS-powered ’91 Toyota HiLux mini-truck.

Last time we checked in on Jazzy, the HiLux was painted and ready for the engineer’s seal of approval.

“I’ve been consulting with the engineer the whole way through, so it passed with flying colours,” says Jazz. “I had kept the chassis in bare metal just in case, so once it was approved I drove it to work to the show the guys, then took it straight home to pull it down.

“I got the body off and got the chassis ready for powdercoating,” she continues. “That meant making sure there were no pinholes, no bog and that all the welds were presentable. Scotty from Oxytech hooked me up with the product and it was applied locally by Goulburn Valley Powder Coaters. I went the powdercoating route because I live on a dirt road!”

The cab is now back on the body and Jazz is installing the air tanks and compressors for the airbag suspension system and making up the hard air lines, which she’ll then polish and clear-coat.

“The plan is to get it running and driving in time for Street Machine Summernats 34,” Jazzy says. “I’ve already entered, so I kinda have to make it!”

Work-wise, Jazzy has now given the coffees the flick in favour of an apprentice trimmer gig at Maskell’s Customs & Classics. “COVID has meant I can’t go and do the trim course I’d planned, so at the moment I’m mainly doing fabrication work,” she says. “We’ll sort that out though, and Greg [Maskell] has teed up some really gun trimmers for me to visit. I’ll practice on my HiLux and then move on to customer cars.”

We’re stoked to see Jazzy’s career blossoming, and can’t wait to see her ’Lux on the road!