Hold on to this Phatboy

WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard

CLIMBING THE WALL: Derek Smyth's Phatboy 4WD puts the batmobile to shame.

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Some people talk about being driven up the wall but four-wheel drive enthusiast Derek Smyth can actually do it.

Mr Smyth is the owner/driver of the Phatboy - a home-made 4WD that can climb over cars, drive on walls and blast through mud puddles.

The Phatboy is the product of a year's worth of hard work, sacrificed weekends and upset girlfriends for Mr Smyth, the owner of Brunton Engineering, and his team of nine helpers.

Parts cost $45,000 but with labour the Phatboy would be valued at $100,000.

"It was trial and error really," Mr Smyth said.

"We'd draw something on the ground and if we didn't like the way it looked we'd take it off and redo it.

"We called it the Phatboy because it's mean and squat."

Features of the car included airbag suspension, which kept it stable while driving up the side of hills, and a control panel that allowed the 4WD's navigator to control individual tyres while moving.

It has been clocked at 160kmh, but could go much faster, he said.

Building crew member Matt Williams said the Phatboy was one of the best home-made 4WDs in New Zealand. "The idea was that we wanted to make the coolest one out there. It's low, so that gives it better stability, and it's light."

Engineer Matt Blackburn said he was "dead keen" on building the 4WD, despite having never made one before.

"We started last March and we only thought it would take six months, which turned into a year."

The Phatboy has been entered into a national 4WD trial series where drivers completed obstacle courses featuring mud bogs, hills and banks.

Mr Smyth came fourth in the first round but hopes to improve on this at the second round in Colyton.

 * The Colyton Autokraft 4x4 trial is on Midland Road on Sunday.

- © Fairfax NZ News