Young Bronte O'Shannessy from the Central West Car Club (CWCC) has always had a passion for cars, which she credits to her dad Mick - so it's no surprise to see her behind the wheel of this cool little 'Datto' ute.
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"As a young kid I used to hang around Dad a lot when he was working on his cars," said Bronte.
"He's pretty particular about his work, so I think that's where I got the passion from.
"It's a 1985 Datsun 1200 - the last of the utes," Bronte said.
She told me that after seeing one at the Deniliquin Ute Muster she fell in love with them and spent a full 12 months looking for the right one.
Bronte bought hers in June 2020 with a lot of the hard work already done.
The immaculate custom orange paint was already laid down and it was set up with matte black 17 inch alloy wheels.
The 1200cc 4 cylinder engine has a pair of side draft carburetors and extractors for that extra poke, while there's a 4 speed manual transmission.
"We replaced the master cylinder and added a brake booster for the front discs, but otherwise mechanically it was all good," said Bronte.
The interior is where it needed a makeover: it was the original brown, and Bronte has updated it to black.
"We re-did the whole interior - seats, carpet, trim and dash and repainted the original cluster of gauges on the dash and replaced the wiring."
This is where Bronte's skills came in handy. She's a third year apprentice auto-electrician so this was right up her alley.
"I really like the challenge of work and I'm learning new stuff all the time."
On the outside, Bronte updated the look by painting the taillight surrounds and the bumperettes black to blend with the soft tonneau cover and the alloys.
Bronte would like to especially thank her dad, Mick, for all his work in getting the Datto looking as good as it is and her mum Laura, with a special mention to her boyfriend Tom for all his work too.
For now, she's enjoying driving the Datto, but once car shows are back on the agenda she's looking forward to showing it off at a few local displays.
She's already been a regular at the CWCC's monthly street meets, which held on the second Friday of each month at 6.30pm at the outdoor Coles car park in Parkes.
For more about the CWCC you can find us on Facebook or at www.centralwestcarclub.com.
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