The Australians Have Built The Ultimate Muscle Car For Surfers

The Australian love affair with good old-fashioned V8 engines is as well documented as their affection for outdoor activities - especially surfing!

So it shouldn't surprise anyone that Australia's Holden Cars and RedBull Racing teamed up to build the most insane surfer wagon in human history.

As a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Holden Sandman panel van, the GM subsidiary teamed up with Triple Eight Race Engineering and Red Bull Racing Australia to create the Triple Eight Project Sandman Tribute Concept (first seen on Autoblog).

At its core, the Sandman Concept is a purebred Holden V8 Supercar racer with a roof rack that can accommodate a pair surfboards.

The car is a tribute to an Aussie cult classic from the 1970s. But the updates are as intense as shooting a gnarly curl or carving some swells. The 700-horsepower engine is bred from race cars: its drive-by-wire throttles and Formula One-style paddle shifters cry out for driving that's as aggressive as Kelly Slater's moves on the waves.

With a top speed of nearly 200 mph, the surfer sport wagon is far from a legal street machine. Fortunately, the concept's creators unleashed the racer on the beachside street track at Surfer's Paradise, Australia during the runup to this month's Gold Coast 600, an annual race for V8-powered supercars.