Jack Mill’s Suzuki Swift wins Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Young Street Machine of the Year 2025

Your 2025 Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Young Street Machine of the Year winner is Jack ‘Swifty’ Mill and his oh-so-rad Suzuki Swift burnout car. Initially pegged as a cheap and cheerful way for Jack to rip skids, SWIFTY quickly evolved into an impressively engineered, well-presented skid car that can bang tyres with the best of them.

Jack and his lovely misso Lara tour all around the country competing in skid comps, focusing on getting kids involved in the car scene and spreading awareness around men’s mental health issues in the process.

Jack has scored a $3000 cash prize, plus a $1000 Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse voucher and a $200 Street Machine merch voucher.

Congratulations on winning YSMOTY, legend!

Thanks! It was awesome to get the call; I was shocked! I’ve been very active on social media, spreading the word about YSMOTY and sharing it as much as I could to try and drum up votes.

Tell us how Swifty came about.

I had a VS ute [Young Gun, SM, Jun ’22], but I got bored of smacking that into walls and wanted to build something a bit different. The Swift popped up for $500 just up the road, so I picked it up and started measuring it up, then got stuck in. It was just going to be a cheap little party car, and then we went nuts on it. Now I’ve got a 427 stroker LS coming from America and a set of Higgins heads sorted for it. It should be good!

MORE Jack's LS-swapped Suzuki Swift

Cars seem to be very much a family thing for the Mill clan.

They are! We’ve got the old boy’s HX with a 408 stroker and airbags, which we built in the front shed in about six months; it used to be my nan’s car. My brother’s car is a CV6 Monaro that went from a supercharged six to an LS. We blew a few of those up, then went to a 408ci stroker and now an 800hp Barra. It’s something different; I built the motor and did the wiring myself on that one. My brother is also building a six-seat, column-shift HQ with a big-block. Then my mum’s got a ’92 Jag that’s probably going to get a big-block Chev, and my sister’s car is a VY Commodore with a 383ci LS. My missus has a BA ute, which we’re about to strip back and make into a bit more of a show car. We’re hoping to have all of them at Summernats 38!

You travel a lot with the car. How many kays have you done chasing the burnout dream so far?

Close to 40,000km. It’s been 25,000 in the past six months, going to shows and events and picking up parts. We’re pretty active with the car. Up until recently, I was working my day job five days a week, then driving a taxi on the weekend and after hours to pay for it all.

MORE Report: Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Cars & Coffee

SWIFTY may have looked complete at our YSMOTY cars-and-coffee meet at Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse in Sydney, but the LS donk was badly busted. Fear not, as there’s a far spicier combo in the works as we speak

It’s about more than just burnouts for you guys, though; you seem focused on spreading positive messages as you go.

We’re always aiming to raise awareness around men’s mental health issues, and to get the younger generation involved in the sport. With the mental health stuff, I grew up as a fairly shy kid and was bullied a lot when I was younger. I was also involved in a big car accident when I was about 16 and went through a lot of struggles, and playing with cars is the thing that helped me get through it. I enjoy getting people to talk about that stuff; we want to encourage people who might be struggling to open up to talk to someone and get some help. We hand out a lot of stickers and probably put a couple of hundred kids through the car at every event we go to. They get a buzz out of hopping in the driver’s seat for a photo. We need to get them keen so we keep the sport alive.

What are your plans for the YSMOTY prize money?

It’s probably going to go straight back into the Swift to help get this stroker engine up and running!

We were fortunate that both Jack and former SMOTY champ and all-round street machining legend Peter Fitzpatrick were in attendance at Dubbo Motorfest, so we roped in Fitzy to handle the cheque presentation

Anyone you’d like to thank?

I’d really love to thank my whole family and close friends, and everyone who supports me. I’d also like to thank my sponsors: Haltech; 24/7; Littlewood’s Smash Repairs; Souters Auto Electrical & Mechanical; Switch Signs; PPG; Blokes Advice; Pozza’s Powdercoating; Parkes Tyrepower & Mechanical; Visual Apparel; Yubute Fabrication; and Higgins Race Heads. Thanks also to Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse and everyone who voted for the car. I’m hoping to have the motor from the US next month, and we’ll get stuck back into it. Methanol and 8000rpm – it should be fun!

2025 Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse Young SMOTY winners:
1st Place: Jack Mill’s Suzuki Swift
2nd Place: Riley Matekovic’s VH Commodore
3rd Place: Jack Archer’s Nissan Silvia S15