THE BURBS

There is probably no more inappropriate name for a passenger vehicle than the Chevrolet Suburban.

While the Nissans are out there Patrolling and the Toyotas are LandCruising, the big American SUVs get the unfortunate task of picking up the kids from soccer training and putting around the burbs. What a life.

Can you imagine a car company in this day and age trying to pass off a car like this as an everyday run-around? Think about it, though. What if the suburbs you are marketing to aren’t those congested, bitumen paved, non-native tree-lined streets the majority of us are stuck in.

What if the suburb was remote West Australian town Tom Price, and what if on all sides of the town’s limits there is endless desert? With that combination, you might just have a winner.

It is probably fortunate then that George Savell, Superintendent of Rail Operations in Tom Price, doesn’t live in downtown Glebe or St Kilda. Not only would it be a pretty big drive to work everyday, but he wouldn’t have half the chance to enjoy the pleasures of his big Chev V8.

George picked up the Chev early last year in pretty poor condition. After getting around in everything from a SWB Patrol, Landies, LandCruisers and HiLuxes, he was after something a little different and able to tow.

The only real option then was 396ci of American diesel V8 grunt. Being smack bang in the middle of the Pilbara, George, his wife and two kids have some of the most amazing country in the world to explore and get out there as much as they can.

Karijini National Park, which is a haven of waterfalls, waterholes and amazing gorges, is just down the road and even the Canning Stock Route isn’t too far away.

This project has been a pretty big one for George, and hasn’t been without a few dramas. After the big diesel was shoehorned in, stuff kept breaking due to the power increase and age. Next time, though, he might leave the engine conversion to last and work on getting everything else right first. That’s if there is a next time. At the moment, he and his family are loving it too much and just want to drive it as much as possible as far away from the suburbs as they can get.

MECHANICALS

The 6.5L Chev V8 diesel is one of those engines almost all of us dream of. I know one was on the list of mods to Project Guts, until someone pointed out the engine alone was worth almost four times the price of the Sierra itself and might not actually fit.