It's a thin excuse, at best. The Holden Sandman, the panel-van version of the classic ute, turns 40 this year. Also, Australians like to surf. With that contrived veneer to wrap around the absolute madness within, Holden Design and Red Bull grafted a window-less cap on the back of a Ute and dropped it to the floor on top of the running gear and suspension of a V8 Supercar.

You can still put a small mattress back there, which makes it a proper Sandman in anybody's book. And those surfboards? They're carbon fiber. You know, for weight savings.

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Right now, Project Sandman is running a full-race 5-liter V8 making about 650 hp, but Holden is planning on ditching it for a built-up smallblock making 705 hp. It's not actually going to compete for anything except attention, so no need to hold back.

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At the Gold Coast 600, taking place this weekend, Red Bull will have the Project Sandman out doing demo laps. After its engine swap, it'll also be used for scaring the piss out of race fans during ride days. What it won't be doing is going on sale as a production version, a shame. Doubly shameful is GM's refusal to sell us a Ute, which is itself an endangered species when Holden's local manufacturing operations are shuttered in 2017.

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