Nathan McKenna | A Sunny Named Shelly

How good is the feeling that you get from a fresh project. To be able to completely wipe the slate clean and start from scratch with the knowledge that the end product is entirely up to you. You may remember several months ago I featured Nathan McKenna’s oh so sparkly 1200 ute. Since then, both Nathan and his dad have been very busy with the new project; A circa 1970 Sunny which has been appropriately named Shelly.

The project is very much in its early stages with the shell still being completely bare. A huge amount of rust and panel work has been completed so far but there is still plenty to go.

There is also 40 years of wear, tear and modifications by previous owners need to be rectified before Nathan will be happy to see an engine inside Shelly. Speaking of engines, I bet you guys are wondering what will going into a project like this. An Sr20, a Ca18…. A Rotory?

Not on your life! Nathan has a race prepared twin carb A15 motor waiting to be placed between the strut towers. I honestly can’t wait to hear this thing roar to life. At only 100hp at the wheels it certainly won’t be winning any Autosalon power competitions, but with about 1.5x the power of the standard A12 it will really make things interesting!

I always love to keep my eye on a good build and Shelly is certainly shaping to be that way. I will be keeping you guys up to date on the progress as the build comes along so be sure to keep checking Excitement! Car Magazine every day!

- Grant