Photo courtesy of HallWish Photography

Australia has one of the world’s most vibrant car cultures that’s been burning race gas for decades, and the variety of cars you see there is truly amazing. Justin Cook is one of those Australian gearheads, and he scored an American-born 2003 Chevrolet S-10 as his ride, but put his own spin on the powerplant to build one screaming-fast truck.

Photo courtesy of Hart Artwork Photography

Cook got the racing bug from his father growing up, and he has been feeding the need for speed ever since his teenage years. “I raced a few street cars when I was younger, but only managed low 11-second passes, which was fairly fast for a full street trim car in the late ‘90s. After taking a break from drag racing for a few years, I decided to get back into it with a real drag car, as it was getting hard to drive fast cars on the street in Australia with all of our laws. So, I went on the search for a full chassis car with running in Pro Turbo or Top Sportsman in mind,” Cook explains.

After some searching, Cook came across this S-10 after it had been imported to Australia with a nitrous-huffing big-block Chevy combo for power. The driveline was removed and Cook purchased the truck as a roller so he could build what he wanted. “After a short discussion with Justin Simpson from Horsepower Solutions, it was an easy decision to use a Toyota 2JZ to make the power and run the classes that I wanted to race,” Cook says.

So, with the odd marriage of an American truck and Toyota driveline made, Cook started his build. The 3.0 liter 2JZ motor is filled with Carrillo connecting rods and Arias pistons, while the Jack Brothers Engineering ported cylinder head helps the Crower 280 camshafts move all the boosted air through the motor. A set of 12 212-pound Siemens injectors get their diet of methanol fuel from an Aeromotive fuel pump, while a 94 mm Precision turbo feeds the 40-pounds of boost into the engine.

This impressive combination has pushed Cook to a best pass of 7.39 at 185 mph, but he wants a whole lot more. Cook plans on possibly trying to feed the truck more boost and cracking into the 200 mph club at some point. He also has some big horsepower plans that could bring him to America someday. “My ultimate goal is to build a radial car in the future and come run Drag Week in the United States,” Cook shares.