About the journey, not destination

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2019 (2449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even though he didn’t walk away as the victor, Dirty Word Customz owner Dwayne Wiltshire still had a blast taking part in the 2019 International RATical Rod Build Off, which involved a more than 3,000-kilometre trek from his shop in Oak Lake to Las Vegas.

While this road trip took place between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1, Wiltshire’s journey truly began on Jan. 1 of this year, when he finally got the green light to start building a one-of-a kind custom vehicle dubbed “Dirty Money.”

After putting more than 10,000 man hours into this project, Wiltshire and his team transformed a standard bank truck into a “Mad Max” style hybrid, complete with a 1991 Chevy chassis, 6V53T Detroit diesel engine and 1947 Diamond-T front end.

To meet up with the competition’s other custom rat rods, the Oak Lake resident was required to drive “Dirty Money” all the way to the starting line in Lincoln, Neb.

“It’s not a trailer queen,” Wiltshire said. “You can’t put it on a trailer and haul it to Vegas. You actually have to drive it there.”

From there, Wiltshire and his fellow competitors travelled through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in a giant convoy, making plenty of stops along the way to show off their work.

Even though the Build Off itself is a travelling car show and not a race, Wiltshire still took some pride in the fact that “Dirty Money” was much better suited for long-distance travel compared to his fellow participants.

“Being Canadian builders we actually had a heater,” he said. “Teams out of New Zealand and Australia and the southern U.S. didn’t have any heat, any wipers. Some of them didn’t even have side windows.”

After arriving in Las Vegas on Nov. 1, the “Dirty Money” crew got to put their vehicle on display at this year’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) auto show, which Wiltshire describes as “the Super Bowl of all car shows.”

Despite having a lot of fun in Sin City, Wiltshire’s trip ended on a sour note after the Build Off judges selected Sean Puz from Florida as this year’s winner for his modified rat rod “Il Capo.”

However, Wiltshire still treasures the time he spent on the road and the camaraderie he shared with his fellow builders from all over the world.

“The most enjoyable part, I would have to say, is the drive-off,” he said. “Because you get to drive across the countryside, and everybody gets to enjoy what you built.”

Wiltshire said he would like to compete again, but is going to take the upcoming year off, since this kind of project requires a lot of time and money.

If any Westman gear head wants to follow in his footsteps, Wiltshire cautions they need to fully commit to the competition and be willing to spend around 10 months getting their vehicle ready for the Build Off.

“Don’t be timid,” he said. “You’ve got to put it all on the line.”

Wiltshire competed in last year’s International RATical Rod Build Off as a member of a team from Selkirk.

In April of this year, he also clinched first place at the World of Wheels auto show in Winnipeg for his work on a custom 1952 Chevrolet truck.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

»Twitter: @KyleDarbyson