Get a load of this

Despite its glamorous looks, this pick-up started life as a standard Astra van. Colene McKessick discovers how it went from builder to bling bling

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David Hughes with his customised pick-up. Photographs: Coline Rennie

PICK-UP trucks. Usually they have connotations of manual labour, dirt, sweat and a hard day’s work.

This one, on the other hand, hasn’t seen a sack of gravel, a pallet or even a dusting of dirt since it was bought two years ago by David Hughes. In fact, it didn’t even start its life as a pick-up at all.

Originally bought at Thainstone Mart for £500 as a runabout for transporting David’s go-karts, the 1994 MK3 Vauxhall Astra van never even had a tyre placed on its load-bed.

“It was never meant to be a good-looking car,” laughed David, 21, from Rothienorman.

“It was bought to take a racing go-kart and spares in the boot, but then I kept throwing money at it and I didn’t want to put my go-kart in it because it would scratch it, so it never actually took the kart.”

Instead, David started adding bits and bobs until, last winter, it got a complete rebuild.

After being stripped down, this bog standard Astra van was transformed into a gleaming show car.

“There are not a lot of parts you can get for an Astra van, so the majority had to be fabricated,” said David, a mechanic.

“So I made a four-point roll cage, and a rear panel had to be made. Then, because I wanted to put on 19in wheels that sit wide, I had to cut the sides of the van off and replace them with new ones.

“It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. The only thing I had to get done for me was the paint job, but I’m so pleased with how it turned out.”

What started off as a builder’s friend has turned into a bling-bling monster, looking as if it has rolled straight off the set of a rapper’s music video.

Two years and nearly £10,000 later, shiny 19in wheels bulge out from the van, which was lowered 70mm all round – and an oversized GSI front bumper and modified rear splitter complete the look. Not bad for what started out as a bog standard Astra van.

Inside, the newspapers and crisp wrappers have been replaced by a state-of-the-art entertainment system complete with three seven-inch TV screens – one in the dash and one in each sun visor.

And if you don’t see the chromed-out Astra coming, there are six 12in subs, two vibe amps, a power cap and two 6x9 speakers behind the seats, ensuring that you can hear it from a mile away. The car even has police strobe lights fitted into the headlights, though these are purely for show use.

Though it looks hardcore, the same can’t be said about its performance.

“It’s all show and no go,” laughed David.

“It’s a 1,700 diesel, which has been rebuilt with a 1,400 gearbox, so it’s not putting out much power at all. It’s all been chromed, so under the bonnet looks good, but it’s not much use for a hard day’s work.”

Not that it matters, because this car is all about posing now. David has taken it to shows at Crail, Santa Pod, London and Bristol over the past year, and it never fails to draw attention.

“Even just driving it about Aberdeen, the attention you get is unbelievable,” he said.

“Everyone wants to know what it is, and if it’s been on Pimp My Ride, on MTV. The number of Vauxhall enthusiasts that have commented on it has been great.”

David has left behind the world of go-kart racing, moving on to stock-car racing at Cowdenbeath. And though he’s still in the garage every weekend, the Astra has had enough tinkering.

“That’s it for the Astra. I had to stop myself,” said David.

“It’s actually going to go at the end of the year. I was going to just keep it, but it’s not getting enough use from me as I now have a Transit van that’s stickered up with my name that I actually do use for my racing.

“I’m still playing about with cars, though. I’ve built six or seven cars for racing and, at the moment, I’m building a Euro-style VW Polo to use as a road car.

“It is a 1.6-litre MK4 2000 model in ice white. It’s getting 14x8in wheels on the front and 14x9in wheels on the back, with stretch tyres. It’s getting lowered-on coilovers, and I’m also painting the roof black. It will be my main car.”

Though David will be sad to see the Astra go, it’s sure to be the ultimate pick-me-up for its next owner.