Marv’s Garage: Of course Australia had a 3000hp burnout truck

Back in 1983 Aussie truck driver (and all 'round legend) Frank Gaffeiro signed a deal with the Bandag tyre company to turn his hot rodded White Expeditor cab-over into a test vehicle. And so began the legend of the Bandag Bullet.

Frank toured race tracks and country shows around Australia blowing flames out the exhaust, and doing colossal burnouts that blocked the sun from the sky. It was a wild old time in the 80s, between monster trucks, hair metal, wrestling, cocaine and burnout semis. Australia had wildly modified trucks before, but they were normally show pieces that maybe saw a bit of drag racing, not tyre-melting skid pigs.

In the 1990s Frank got hold of a T400 Kenworth body and tore the old White down to create a new, crazier Bandag Bullet. Two Detroit 16V92 diesel 2-stroke V8s were custom built and installed for 1500ci (24L) of capacity.

Now, the debate about whether superchargers, turbochargers or nitrous-oxide injection rules the horsepower wars supreme rages on, so Frank hedged his bets by fitting the New Bullet with a pair of superchargers, four turbos and nitrous on top.

This combo stomped out 2800hp and 5600lb/ft of torque, or enough to make the 8-tonne Bandag Bullet mk2 the fastest piston-powered truck on earth (ie: not jet-propelled like the Waltzing Matilda semi from the late 70s). And it did ridiculous burnouts.

The drivetrain featured an Allison CR8000 trans and Eaton 2300-series diff, fitted with a locker. The rear end was a ladder bar arrangement with a Watt's link. It was possibly the most ridiculous vehicle to appear before Aussie crowds this side of Robosaurus.

Frank sold the Bullet to Laurie Williams, owner of North Queensland Truck and Machinery Movements, who debuted it at Summernats 2020 as a Western Star 4800. Now known as the Bullet Burnout Truck it still roasted the hides with ease on the tight Nats pad