Project Zero Bucks Given - Part 1: Can we build a Summernats cruiser for $0?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch? Perhaps, but we’re going to tackle Australia’s biggest car show without spending a penny.

Isn’t she a beauty? Not yet... This 1979 RT118 Corona wagon was sitting in a West Wyalong paddock for at least a decade before we spotted it advertised on CarsGuide for $150.

Described as mechanically complete but needing a battery, we saw instant Summernats potential beneath its weathered body. Ambition can be a funny thing. Stay with us.

We had no idea what the interior was like or whether it would actually drive, but we decided the 400km trek out to West Wyalong was worth it for a look.

We didn’t want to head out there twice, so our good friends at ASV RAM helped us out with a RAM 2500 for the occasion. Massive overkill, yes, but everybody knows the best way to tow is by overcompensating with your rig.

With a 700kg servo car trailer and 1260kg Corona, we were overcompensating by more than 2.5 tonnes. Yeah.

This RAM ain't no sheep.

When we got there, the outside was everything we hoped it would be. Awesome genuine patina, smatterings of flourishing lichen (it's alive!!!) all over the body, the floors were intact, and the biggest issue was the farm gate (yes, a gate) attached to the towbar.

The story goes that the late previous owner used to use it to train harness racehorses in his back paddock. Cool story, but passing traffic on the way home probably wouldn’t agree.

Everything under the bonnet seemed present and accounted for aside from a battery, but the interior was another story.

Like the inside of a farm shed is probably the best way to describe it, which is fair because it had clearly been used as a farm vehicle. The evidence of, shall we say, ‘rodent residence’ wasn’t ideal, but nothing a good hose wouldn’t fix.

We put our best sad faces on for the vendor though, who had no idea what we wanted to do with it. Combined with the fact that its ability to run was still in question, we used these details to whittle down the asking price to $50. I know we said $0 was the plan, but there’s more to the plan we’ll get to later. A wireless angle grinder soon sorted the gate issue, and the tyres, amazingly, held air when pumped up. This made winching it onto the trailer SO much easier.

Given the success of the whole project hinges on its ability to run and drive without spending money on repairs, we had to have a go at starting it as soon as we got around the corner.

After re-routing the fuel pump to a Coke bottle full of petrol wedged in the engine bay, we combined a good squirt of “Start Ya Bastard” and a spare battery, with most of our limbs crossed, to fire our new favourite Corona into life after just 30 seconds of cranking!

How did Toyota earn its reputation for reliability again?! But not only did she run, after a couple of minutes she settled down to idle unassisted. It wasn’t a particularly smooth idle, but it didn’t stall.

So with that, Project Zero Bucks Given was born. There were a few other things to check before we knew if she’d be right to drive, but that could wait until we got her home.

The RAM did an excellent job on the home journey, with little more than a bobbing Corona in the rear-view mirror to remind us of the near-two tonne load on the back. For the record, it used 13.2L/100km on the way there with just the trailer, and adding the Corona nudged this figure up to just 16.13L/100km on the return leg.

Home at last.

For context, I recently pulled my KE20 Corolla behind a 1.5-litre petrol Ford Escape and used 19.4L/100km. There’s definitely a point of equilibrium when choosing a tow vehicle.

So, what are we going to do to Zero Bucks Given to make it Summernats worthy? You’ll have to stay tuned, but we can tell you there aren’t any LS conversions floating around for our budget of diddly squat. With Summernats just a fortnight away, the clock is ticking...

Read Zero Bucks Given - Part 2 here

Read Zero Bucks Given - Part 3 here

Read Zero Bucks Given - Part 4 here

What would you do to our Corona? Aside from sending it for scrap, tell us in the comments.