Originally featured in Street Machine Australia — proudly shared by RestoMod because we absolutely love it.
There’s nothing that screams “granny car” louder than a plain white, stock-as-rock 1978 Toyota KE30 Corolla. But Nathan Patterson’s version — affectionately named THELMA after its original elderly owner — couldn’t be further from that stereotype. What began life as a nanna-spec runabout was transformed, in just eight weeks, into a 550rwhp tyre-frying showpiece that not only roasted rubber with 1320Video at Summernats 31, but also landed in the Top 60 Elite Hall alongside Australia’s finest custom builds.
Nathan’s original plan was to turn the KE30 into a street car using the SR20 turbo four-cylinder engine from his Top 60 Hilux, LOWLUX. But when the team from 1320Video got caught without a car for the Nats, Nathan jokingly offered up the Corolla. That joke turned into a full-on build marathon — all while he and his partner were welcoming newborn twins during the first week of the project.
From the outside, the result is still clean and subtle, finished in custom bright white, but underneath it's a whole different animal. Gone is the original 1.2-litre four-banger, replaced by a fire-breathing GM 6.0L L98 Gen IV V8, built by Warspeed Industries with burnouts in mind. The engine wears a Holley Hi-Ram intake topped with twin Aeroflow throttle bodies, and breathes through custom headers knocked together in just six hours by Windsor Exhaust. Inside, the L98 packs SRP pistons, Callies rods, and a Comp Cams 235/243 bump stick, with rectangle-port factory headsupgraded with stainless valves, dual valve springs, and a trunnion kit.
All of this is managed by a Haltech Elite 2500 ECU, with MSD coils lighting the fire and three Bosch 044 fuel pumpsfeeding 2000cc injectors on a diet of E85. Cooling is handled by an SCR radiator with custom thermo fans. Tuned by Dale Heiler at Castle Hill Performance, THELMA put down an impressive 550 horsepower at the rear wheels, spinning up to 7800rpm during its first ever skid at Summernats — which, by the way, was also the first time the car had ever been driven in anger.
Backing the angry V8 is a two-speed Powerglide transmission built by ATS, paired with a TCE 4500rpm converter. Power is fed through a custom tailshaft to a shortened nine-inch diff running a Strange centre and 3.5:1 gears — parts originally pulled from LOWLUX just to make the Summernats deadline. The bell housing is a Dellow Conversions unit, holding everything together under serious abuse.
The undercarriage and suspension setup were totally overhauled. The original rear end was replaced with a ladder-bar setup and custom tubs, built by Shawn at Karnge Kreations, who ended up removing most of the floor just to make everything fit. The fabrication was extensive, but the results are seamless — the inner tub work was smoothed and painted by Dapto Smash, who were responsible for much of the car’s build, including the flawless paint and panel. Nathan credits Trevor, the owner of Dapto Smash, and his family for their professionalism, attention to detail, and the sheer scale of effort they poured into the project. Trevor’s brother, Sean from Dapto Mechanical, handled the drivetrain install, plumbing, and endless behind-the-scenes work to make the car function.
Despite its wild performance, THELMA still sports a neatly trimmed interior — including modified factory Corolla front seats and custom rear buckets — all wrapped in plush brown Bentley leather, stitched together by Darren from Queen Street Customs in just three days. The contrast between the show-level interior and burnout-level performance is part of what makes this car so special.
THELMA rolls on massive Simmons FR wheels, with 22x7s up front and steamroller 22x10s at the rear, wrapped in Pirelli rubber. These rollers were borrowed from another one of Nathan’s Elite cars — a move born out of necessity during the mad rush to complete the build.
One of the most remarkable things about this KE30 isn’t just its performance or style, but the sheer scale of what was achieved in such a short time. Built across the Christmas and New Year shutdown period, with major parts coming from Rocket Industries, THELMA not only made it to Summernats — it skidded, looked the part, and got noticed.
Nathan’s goal was always reliability with attitude. He worked closely with Troy at Warspeed Industries to ensure the engine would survive burnout punishment at every event, not just Summernats. The custom Moroso sump was modified to keep oil where it needed to be, and despite the fact they didn’t even have working gauges during the car’s first skid, the combo held together under pressure — spinning to 7800rpm without a hiccup.
As for the future? Nathan says THELMA might just go blown for Summernats 32. Given how it turned out in naturally aspirated form, we’re pretty sure that would break necks and tyres in equal measure. And who knows — maybe the original owner Thelma will get to see her old car smoking tyres at SEMA.
RestoMod loves this build because it’s everything we believe in — creativity, performance, and pure passion, pulled off with style and speed.
