First published in the November 2004 issue of Street Machine

For a guy who’s main claim to fame is building the world’s best four-cylinder Gemini, 34-year-old Drago Ostric has made quite an impact on the Australian street machine scene.

Since the 2002 debut of his fully rebuilt (for the third time) Gemini wagon at Summernats 15, Drago’s business, Sefton Smash, has become a revolving door, turning out some of Australia’s best elite show cars. He’s known around the traps as an easy going bloke who’s never short of some good, constructive advice for aspiring car constructors. In his own words: “I don’t mind giving everyone a go.” We dropped around for a bit of a chinwag to see what makes this very talented guy tick.

What was your first show car?

The Gemini of course! I had a tidy VK Commodore that I was going to turn into a show car. I bought the Gemini for $200 as a run around while I built the Commodore. Then someone made me an offer on the VK I couldn’t refuse. Basically, Mark Camelleri suggested I then build the wagon. Which I did. Three times no less.

Would you have rebuilt the wagon a fourth time if you missed out on Grand Champion?

Absolutely! No questions. And this time ’round I’d probably put a V8 in it too.

What’s the biggest feather in your cap besides the Gemini?

Running and owning my own business at my age, debt-free.

What do you feel are your strengths?

I reckon my biggest strength is design — coming up with different shit, stuff out of the ordinary. Especially when I get let loose on somebody else’s car.

What did you do before becoming one of Australia’s foremost body and paint men?

After leaving high school I did a 12-month stint with Freedom Custom Body Styling where I did a heap of fibreglass work and body kits during the VN/VP days. Then I painted buses. I did a painting apprenticeship with BusWays. But at the same time I was doing body building [sheet metal work] along with panel beating and fabrication work for those guys. They were the biggest help, it’s where I learnt a lot of my skills.

What does Drago Ostric want to be doing in ten years time?

Still building cars — I enjoy it too much. I wouldn’t mind getting into the US market and building cars for overseas customers. I really admire guys like Chip Foose and Troy Trepanier and would love to set myself up like those guys [building customer’s cars on a professional level].

Most difficult car you’ve ever worked on?

From a smash point of view, Lamborghini Countach. From a fabrication point of view, definitely the Gemini. We were trying to cram as much shit as possible into such a small car.

How long have you been judging?

I’ve been judging for around six years, four years of those were the street-driven class at Summernats. Other shows have included Supernats, South Coast Nationals, Sydney Streeters, Glo Racing and a couple of smaller club shows.

What was your most harrowing judging experience — ever have to escape the lynch mob?

Nearly! There was this guy with a neat red FJ Holden who came through at Summernats. The guy did all the work himself and thought everything was spot on with the car and felt that he should have won the custom category instead of Shane Keene with his EH convertible, SHORTY. After presentation, he and his mum came up and started abusing me. Luckily I was able to get the FJ and EH side by side and go through both cars together. Chic Henry was in the background watching all this, as quite a crowd built up. When I’d finished, I asked the assembled crowd and him and his mother which was the better car and everyone agreed on the EH.

Did you think the pro-V8 crowd at the burnout strip would throw beer cans at you when you stepped up to accept the Grand Champion sword?

Shit yeah! I didn’t know how they were going to take it all. However, what was a little bit comforting was what happened the year before. When we had problems with the fuel pump, the security guard closed the judging hall so we could play with the car and get it running, and the crowd built up outside the door. It was a good buzz because as soon as we opened the door and drove the car down to the main drag a lot of people cheered for us. And that’s what really shocked me more than anything. So going back to Summernats this year and going for Grand Champion again, I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t know what the burnout crowd would be like, but the majority supported us. It was a great feeling — thanks everyone who was there.

Most impressive car you’ve ever seen?

I still reckon MR HJ [Ed Brodie’s SMOTY-winning black HJ sedan]. I feel that if that car came back out today it would still kick the wagon’s arse. As an overall package it’s a damn good car; it was obvious a lot of thought had gone into it. At the time it was innovative. But the biggest thing was the sheer quality. You could tell a phenomenal amount of time had been spent on it. You could go around it 360 degrees and you were flat out trying to find something wrong with it.

Besides women mobbing you, what’s the biggest headache since Street Machine made you famous?

Ummm, I get too many tyre kickers through the doors. Age is usually the biggest problem. Older guys in their late 30s or 40s are a lot more serious about building a car. I find them a lot easier to deal with. They’ve got their houses paid off, their families have grown up, they’ve got the time and just want a toy. It’s to do with commitment. Young guys come in and want you to build a car for them from scratch. As soon as you start talking dollars and cents, they shit themselves. They’ve got no idea about planning. They waste a shit-load of money on nothing before they decide to start doing anything properly. That’s not to say it’s all dollars and cents. If it’s a really interesting project, I can’t help but go a little bit beyond what the customer is actually paying for. It’s hard to justify it to the customer — I don’t charge them for that, I do it for pure satisfaction.

What’s your next goal after winning Grand Champion?

To build the DeSoto up to be the best car in the country [it’s currently underway in the Sefton workshop]. That’s my goal for that one. We’re going to slice and dice it so much it will be barely recognisable. The benchmark for this car will be something like Troy Trepanier’s Sniper. Although we’re still tossing up whether to make it left or right-hand drive, it will be going to the States. Regardless of whether we get a sponsor or not, no matter what happens, it’s going to the States.