Every now and then we meet people in our lives that amaze us. People with motivation and determination; people who are driven. Aaron, who some of you may know as Maximus, is one of those people.

Last week, the minitruck scene in Australia had one of the biggest annual shows of the year, and the oldest on going show to date, the East Coast Cruise. People travel from across the country to attend. Little did they know that Aaron had a surprise in store for the show.

Aaron calls it a Chevy 3-way. The cab comes from a 1951 Chevy, the engine is a modern fuel-injected 5.0L Chevy v8, and the floor pan and chassis are thanks to a Rodeo. Confused? I assume some of you might be, since I figure most Americans will get stuck at “Rodeo”. No, there aren’t cowboys riding horses here.

The most amazing part of this whole build is the story behind it. Aaron, who was originally from Melbourne, moved up to Sydney to start working for one of the more well-known fabrication shops in Australia, The Chop Shop. 3 weeks before the East Coast Cruise (ECC), he decided to make the drive down to Melbourne (which for the international readers is a 12 hour drive one-way) to pick up the shell and chassis where they has been sitting dormant in his garage.

After driving 12 hours back to the workshop, the mission had begun. The target: make it to ECC. With nothing more than a cab in primer, a rodeo floor pan grafted in and a rolling stock chassis, the task was seemingly impossible. With the hours of 7am to 4pm allocated to customers’ cars, Aaron dedicated his evenings until 2am (some nights 5am) toward the project’s completion. When Laurie, the owner of The Chop Shop, got back from the US, he and the rest of the crew helped chip in and do their part.

The tub was completely fabricated to suit the era of the vehicle, and although they ran out of time to completely finish it, you’ll have to trust me when I say it looks amazing so far. Aaron has said that next year it will be 100% finished, painted, trimmed and running, so an update will happen when the time comes.

For now, Aaron just wants to thank his dad Steve for all his help in rebuilding the cab, Chad Forward for all the help with the cad work, Laurie Starling for all the hours and motivation, The Chop Shop crew for all their help and support, The NC Australia Family and most importantly Mia his girlfriend. Until next time.

In 1948, Ferdinand Porsche crafted a vehicle that would change the automotive world forever. The Porsche 356, the grandfather of the 911 model, was Porsche’s first production vehicle. Today, there are less than 30,000 left, meaning they’ve amassed some serious value amongst collectors. Who better than the Type 2 Detectives to build an outlaw of their own, a final “hurrah!”  in the name of going against the grain and crafting a Porsche that unquestionably drives the purists insane.

We will start with a history lesson. The Porsche 356 is the car that started it all; it was Porsche’s first ever production vehicle, and unless you’re blind, you can see Porsche has stayed close to their roots in almost all respects. The rear-engine fastback design is iconic in the 911 heritage, and seeing as it is a car with a crest, you know that the old men in polos hold these cars close to their hearts. It’s youngsters and the rebels that started the “Outlaw” movement, a crusade against the purist ideology. Fearless Porsche owners took their tools to their cars to convert them in to track cars and street racers alike. Modern engines, updated suspensions; anything that pushed away from the “concours di elegance” mentality was fair game. It was the start of the “cars are meant to be driven, not parked” mindset.

For our friends at T2D, this project began as simply as any other. Paul Medhurst and Jason MacLean had the urge to get their hands greasy under a classic 356. Everyone finds a bit of joy in chopping up something they know they shouldn’t, and these guys are no different. After sourcing the right car, one that had been totaled and left for dead, the boys got to work. The ’58 body came out of storage where it had been for the past 15 years.

“He lives in central London and wanted a car he could slap around town in and not worry about it getting scratched and abused in the urban surrounding and back streets of the English Capital city.” Paul tells me about the type of car Jason was wanting to build.

“…so when he got the urge for a 356, the brief was to make the car look neglected in the body department, something that looked like it had been painted many years ago and used and abused ever since.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the duo set out to build a car that intentionally looked rough around the edges. The paintwork you see is far from half-assed. The T2D trio of Steve, Dan, and Trevor spent more than 200 hours on the finish of the car, including aging the final paintwork for the desired patina.

“We first carried out all of the metal work and getting the straight, thousands of English pounds were invested in the body, we needed it to be strong and safe, even if we didn’t want it to look that way.” As they say, you can never judge a book by its cover, or a Porsche by its paint job. After the body fabrication was completed, they got to work on the “fun” part: the suspension. The team went to town, fabricating their own front beam and suspension system with the end goal being a Porsche that hovers off the ground and is able to air up to avoid the speed-bumps and other obstacles in down town London. It utilized Monroe air shocks in the front and bags in the rear, and was all designed to be run in conjunction with the original torsion bar system. The engine and transmission were also lifted to help with ground clearance and help correct the excessive camber.

The interior of the car was trimmed down to the bare essentials. Bare in the most literal sense; two 356 Carrera seats with little more than cushions to sit on, elegantly wrapped in Eley Kishimoto Flash fabric. The extremely rare EMPI steering wheel finished off what little there was to begin with. Bare bones, “because racecar.”  The minimalist touches are just as prevalent on the exterior of the car. The styling was built around the wheels, scaled up versions of the original Fuch wheels. The lack of bumpers and trim mimic the interior perfectly.

All in all, the car fits together perfectly. It’s not obvious that the paint isn’t the original finish from 1958.  It looks as though the car has spent its life being driven, and hard at that. It is accompanied by a worry-free mindset of ownership. Nicks and dents purely add character to a classic that is already oozing tons of it. In our eyes, it’s another classic kept on the road and out of the junk yard, and best of all, it gets driven like a bat out of hell. “Outlaw” seems quite fitting.

If there’s one thing many of us can relate to, it’s the joy of waking on Christmas morning as a child, eager to see what awaits under the tree. It’s a staple of our adolescence , the most anticipated morning of the year. It’s a time for us to gather as a family, and for the young ones, a time to reduce wrapping paper to confetti and thank ol’ Saint Nick for the yuletide fun. But as we all learned at some point in our childhood, Santa is little more than a fictional character; it was Mom and Dad all along. Unfortunately, this means for many kids, there won’t be any presents under the tree this year. Tough times and a rough economy mean gifts are an unaffordable luxury that fall by the wayside to the essentials such as food and rent.

Fortunately, Motor 4 Toys brings the automotive community together every holiday season to gather donations for those less fortunate. They’re operated entirely by volunteer members of the Southern Californian car community, and last year, managed to gather 36,800 toys for children across California. For us, it’s a chance to be part of something exciting and monumental; to celebrate our love for automobiles with likeminded people and doing some good at the same time.

It was fun from the get-go, as Ben, Andrew, and I went through the aisles of Toys-R-Us, fighting the urge to grab everything that sparked our interest. From lightsabers to transformers, tanks to hotwheels; it was memory-lane overload.

We had trouble not buying all car-related gifts, as you’d be surprised how many there are… but rest assured, we bought a slammed car or two. We even staged ‘ol Lighting McQueen and his 3-piece splits for a glamour shot.

This morning came as an early call: a 4:00A.M. wakeup, and it was off to the races. We took off towards B.B.I. Autosport where we met our partners, HRE Wheels. Our convoy of cars that ranged from S4s to Lamborghinis, and us in Andrew’s Mini, took off towards Woodland Hills. I’d never say the drive was a fast one that consisted of hooning, because that’d be irresponsible, but as we raced the sun, we arrived quickly and in style with presents galore.

After arriving, the sun began to rise and cars slowly filled the empty parking lots. Thousands of people gathered around the open hoods of hundreds of cars in search for warmth, but spirits were high and not a soul was less than ecstatic to be a part of the event. As you can guess, Andrew and I took the opportunity of the golden light of the sunrise to snap photos of the details that sparked our interest.

The cars in attendance covered the full range, from classics to race cars, everyone came out to celebrate the cause. The beauty of such an event is the rare occasion for members from all corners of the car community to join together. Stereotypes are wiped away for once, and those “playboys” that drive their Ferraris, the “grumpy old men” and their classic restorations, and even us “car ruining punks” all became one thing: car enthusiasts with a desire to help others.

As guys who struggle to not fixate on anything relating to vintage motoring, Andrew and I had to keep our feet moving or we knew we’d never get to see all of the fantastic and bizarre cars that made their way out. Andrew even pointed out an original Mini Traveller, the inspiration behind his own Clubman build. Note the classic wood trim. Among other cars present were race cars of all sorts, hot rods, off roaders, V12-packing prancing horses, and even a British double-decker bus.

The event was a thrill to be a part of, and as I am sure Motor 4 Toys would agree, we’re glad everyone came out. We’re looking forward to the next excuse to go toy shopping, and we’re hoping some of our readers will join us next year. But it’s not too late- December has merely arrived and there’s still a chance to participate. Get out there, make a kid smile, and maybe even find a way to show ‘em how a car should sit. If you too would like to donate toys so yet another child can celebrate this year, you can do so by getting in contact with Motor 4 Toys here.