It took just one stroll through the Top 60 Hall at Street Machine Summernats for Clayton Gow to want to go all out in pursuit of joining Australia’s show-car elite. “I was amazed, and I wanted in,” says Clayton, who decided right then and there that he’d leave no stone unturned on his Datsun 1200 build in order to do so. “The goal from that point was to make it into the Top 60,” he says. “My wife and I had always had the dream of having a car capable of competing for Summernats Grand Champion and being in Street Machine.”

First published in the October 2025 issue of Street Machine

So, why was a Datsun 1200 ute his vehicle of choice for such a venture? Turns out Clayton has been a lover of little Dattos for the longest time. “I had a 1600 sedan with a 13B rotary, but I crashed it in 2006,” he says. “So, I got the 1200 ute to put the running gear out of the 1600 into, and then in 2007, this build kicked off.”

Unfortunately for Clayton, it still took from then until 2023 to get the ute finished. “I had two false starts with two different panel shops,” he says. “The first guy just up and left; I had to get the landlord to let me in to get my car! The second one was no better, and what was done had to be stripped back and started again, so that added up to a lot of lost time and money. Luckily, this final product was knocked out by Jason from Kustom Paint Refinishes, who fixed it all and prettied it up just how I’d imagined.”

Between those repeated failed attempts at getting decent paint on the thing, the rest of the build was handled by Steve and Luke at SDR Motorsport. “They were phenomenal; they basically built the whole car,” says Clayton. “They set up the four-link, recessed the firewall, mounted the LSA and the rest of the driveline, and did all the body mods and the final assembly.”

Speaking of which, let’s talk about that Bowtie shoehorned into the little bay. Clayton changed his driveline plans a few times along the way, first opting for the 13B from his 1600, then a supercharged 20B, before eventually going with the much bigger LSA crate motor. “Believe it or not, I was entertaining the idea of doing some burnouts with it for a moment there, and around 10 years ago, a mate came across an LSA crate motor for me, so we went with that,” says Clayton.

The LSA was standard when it first made a new home in the 1200, but once Clayton decided he wanted a crack at the Grand Champion gong, it got ripped back out and taken to LS specialist Troy Worsley at Warspeed Industries. “It wasn’t a massive change-up – it’s still a 6.2-litre, it’s just an LSA done right, according to Troy,” says Clayton. “I just wanted it to sound a bit better – less standard.”

The stock block, crank and blower remain, but Troy made changes to the rotating assembly, including CP rods and pistons, a Kelford bumpstick for an angrier soundtrack, and a pair of Higgins heads. On E85 and using a Link G4+ Thunder ECU, the combo is good for north of 700hp – plenty of snot for a car of this size and weight.

Behind the tickled LS is a Shift Right-built Turbo 400, with power sent through to a four-linked nine-inch turning massive 335 Michelin rubber in an attempt to get that stonk to the ground.

Inside, Clayton had Brent Parker Motor Trimming go to town on the 1200’s tiny cabin. The chairs are Cobra racing buckets trimmed in leather, while the dashboard is a one-off, hand-made piece fitted with mechanical Auto Meter Ultra-Lite clocks that are colour-matched to the car. Clayton grips a Billet Specialties steering wheel and swaps gears using a B&M shifter.

Although not a part of the official unveilings, Clayton debuted the little Datto at Summernats 35 in the Top 60 hall, sporting gloss-black FR Simmons rims. “That was great, but we had no idea what we were doing in the Elite side of things the first year,” he recalls. “We didn’t have a board detailing the build; we didn’t have the car on stands; we didn’t even have a barrier around the car – it was just sitting on carpet. So, we started putting together a display to properly show the ute off, along with making a few changes to the car itself.”

Clayton and his wife Mel sorted out a show display far more befitting of the 1200, while also tweaking the car slightly, the biggest difference being the swap to the Showwheels rims it now wears. It was at this point that Warspeed renovated the LSA, before the Datto came back for Summernats 36.

The changes worked a treat, with the little ute scoring a Top 20 place in the Elite judging and also polling as a Superstars qualifier at MotorEx. Fast track to this year’s Summernats 37, and Clayton cleaned up once again, scoring a place in the Top 10 Elite, 2nd in the Top Commercial category, and a spot in the Magnificent Seven for the Grand Champion polling. “Having a go at those Grand Champion events was really my first time driving it; it was actually lots of fun,” says Clayton. “Eventually, that’ll be the goal; after a few more shows, we’ll get it on the street and cruise it every now and then.”

Another motivator to put the 1200 on street duties is the 1600 sedan Clayton crashed in 2006. His loving wife Mel bought it back into their stable a few years ago, so Clayton is going all out to make that his next Elite-level show machine. “It’s in the build right now. We’re going with a billet rotary and so on, so the goal is to unveil that at the next Summernats,” he says.

“Everyone loves a Datsun and has a Datsun story, so to have people come up to us at shows and share those has been one of the best parts of doing this car.”

CLAYTON GOW
1980 DATSUN 1200 UTE

THANKS
Steve and Luke at SDR Motorsport; Brent Parker Motor Trimming; Matt at The Render Garage; Jason at Kustom Paint Refinishes; Troy Worsley at Warspeed Industries for the engine; Nathan’s Auto Electrical; Eddie and Younan at KOAT for detailing; Chris at Showwheels; last but not least, my wife Mel.