BRETT NIDDRIE

Machine: IMMORTAL, 1977 HOLDEN HZ UTE Engine: 372CI CHEVY SMALL-BLOCK, 6/71 KOBELCO BLOWER

A FORMER champion hydroplane boat racer, Brett Niddrie from Melton, Victoria got bitten by the burnout bug while building and tuning Steve Nogas’s motors. Before too long, Brett was pulling the blown 372ci aluminium small-block set-up out of his world championship-winning boat, IMMORTAL, and replanting it in an HZ ute. Believe it or not, one of the key draws in him switching pursuits was safety. A big crash on the water 13 years ago landed Brett in a coma for two weeks. “I actually drowned and I was very lucky to survive it,” he recalls. “I went back to racing boats because that was all I knew, but eventually I decided to build a burnout car for a bit of fun, and so I don’t get hurt.” While Brett admits he is “just starting to learn to drive it”, behind the scenes his BNR Engines workshop is becoming a mecca for some big-name shredders.