Michael Baumgarten, the foreman of the Port Hedland branch workshop has converted what was a stock standard six cylinder, somewhat beat-up ute, given to him by his grand-dad for getting to work and back, into something that to say the least is a tad different.
After three re-builds the car has gone from a somewhat untidy ‘grand-dad’s car’ to a tidy street car, then to a seriously fast street car and now it’s a red hot drag vehicle.
Michael’s competitiveness began in Go Karts but he says he’s now a poor fit for a kart. He says that as a mechanic he just loves working on vehicles and it’s been a hobby building the ute.
As a drag vehicle, the ute is powered by a 304cu inch V8 engine bored to 355cu inch that when tested on a dynamometer produces 700 horsepower and 900HP when on nitrous. Michael’s plan is to spend this year testing the vehicle and to race it in drag racing at the Kwinana Motorplex next year - competing in eight monthly race meetings. This means he’ll be doing quite a bit of travelling between Port Hedland and Perth which doesn’t seem to phase him – except for the frustrations of metropolitan driving; as he says, Port Hedland doesn’t have a single traffic light, so it’s taking some getting used to.
