as we approach August it’s safe to say the entire team at Meguiar’s UK have been flat-out with the show season every single week, but quietly chipping away in the background has been our latest project car build – Rising Sunny.

We first took delivery of this Datsun Sunny pick-up back at the end of last year, and truth be told it lay pretty dormant for a few months while we compiled a plan of attack for it (not to mention accumulating a whole load of parts from across the world). In fact, it wasn’t until February that the build really started to gain traction, after we took delivery of the awesome Hakosuka-inspired bodywork courtesy of 09 Racing in Japan. Panels test fitted, it was time for the fun to begin…

Being a Meguiar’s show car, we needed a paint finish guaranteed to shine (not to mention show up any imperfections) so we opted for the detailer’s nightmare… black. Get it right and the finish is second to none. Get it wrong and any swirls or cobwebs are made infinitely worse compared to other, lighter colours. Long-suffering friends (and neighbours) Reflex Auto Design took on the paint and bodywork, installing the Hakosoka front end along with flaring the rear arches and relocating the mirrors.

Super-high suspension might be necessary for an actual workhorse pick-up, but being a show car for Meguiar’s we needed some serious lows! Having previously fitted Air Lift Performance suspension to our Crown Vic several years back, we knew air was the only solution for project Rising Sunny. Once again we left it with Phil @ The Install Company, a man who’s skills and ability continue to blow our minds!

The install is completely hidden under the flat bed, with the only giveaway being the Air Lift 3P controller mounted in the dash. Don’t think we’ll be driving it around on stilts, though. We’ll be adopting the Air Lift Performance motto of ‘Drive Low, Park Lower!’

For the interior a pair of Cobra Nogaro seats perfectly fill the cabin, but these aren’t off-the-shelf items… not by a long shot. Porsche Pasha centres and custom stitching give a retro vibe to the modern-day buckets, while a Kenwood KDC-W707 head unit provides all the audio required in a truck that weighs a mere 900kg.

Finishing the overall look is a set of Autostar Kanji wheels measuring in at 14x9in all round. These look straight from the 70s but are a modern wheel supplied by Rota Wheels UK. We think the gold centres matched with the perfect black bodywork looks stunning, what do you think?We can’t wait to showcase the Sunny throughout the rest of the year, but truth be told this is merely phase 1 ‘complete’. We’ve got bigger plans for this project, plans which could see the humble 1200cc motor ditched in favour or something much more lairy. Watch this space…