Everything from how he bolted, welded, and designed every single component was captured. And from his garage in Geelong, the ultimate drifting machine was born.
Through Nigel's weld-by-weld storytelling, the original Blog took the world by storm. It did more than tell a story. It captured the dreams and imagination of designers, enthusiasts, and inspired people from all walks of life.
Thanks to the blog, we now have over half a million followers with our content viewed by millions of people every month worldwide.
Once a side project while he worked his day job, Nigel Petrie has turned his focus toward helping the next generation of motorsport and drifting enthusiasts design and build the car, motorbike, or - practically anything - of their dreams through his Motorsport Fabrication Classes.
"Anyone with an idea, and the willingness to succeed", according to Nigel, "can build the car or motorbike of their dreams within the confines of their own garage."
"With only a few tools, you can develop the skills and components required to turn your dreams into a reality."
It's with this mindset and working ethos that today, Engineered To Slide is much more than a blog or fabrication school.
It's a community of people from all walks of life who have one common goal - to turn their dreams into reality.
A self-taught welder, fabricator, and designer, Nigel's obsession with cars and motorbikes began as soon as he could hold a wrench.
In 2001, he started his journey working for the Ford Motor Company as a tool maker servicing dies that press sheet metal body panels.
But it wasn't until 2003, that Nigel decided to start modifying and designing when he bought his first Nissan 180SX for drifting. Then, with that same car in 2004, he entered Australia’s first drift event in the privateer class.
Not only did he enter - he won.
In 2006, Nigel decided he wanted to show the world what he was all about and launched the very beginning of his blog. It was here where Nigel showed his progress with his drifting, designs, and the welding and fabricating skills he was acquiring in real time.
It was also in these years he started to develop the skills that would take him to the next level as a motorsport fabricator.
He built jigs and fabricated drift parts for his Silvia and customer cars. These same skills and techniques he now teaches in his Motorsport Fabrication Classes.
It wasn't until 2010 when Nigel 'officially' started Engineeredtoslide.com. A year later he also began the infamous Toyota Hilux project - a project that defined his career.
The build took Nigel 4 years to complete. The spaceframe Hilux was an experiment in pushing the boundaries of what is possible with a humble set of tools, a garage, and a wild imagination.
Since then, Nigel has tackled projects of all shapes and sizes. From developing race parts to one-off two wheel projects with Harley Davidson and BMW, and all the way through to setting land speed records on motorbikes. Nigel's career is nothing short of extraordinary.
Nigel's been featured on TV, major news outlets, publications and has been the subject of many documentaries including Dream.Build.Drive, FLATS and a whole lot more.
Nigel and his partner Celia live and work from their home garage in Geelong, Australia. From here, they continue to teach people from all corners of the world how to make their automotive dreams a reality.
Nigel is currently designing a new project that he plans to show the world in 2023. So stay tuned for more from Nigel and Engineered To Slide.
We are a community of people from all walks of life who have one common goal – to turn our dreams into reality.
Whether you’re beginning your journey or you’re a seasoned professional, we aim to provide you with the knowledge and resources required to turn your dreams into reality.
So whatever your dream may be, we hope that our website can act as a source of inspiration and help you along your way.
1. We are all capable of achieving great things
2. The only limits are the ones we impose on ourselves
3. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible
4. There is no such thing as a 'self-made' success – we all need help from others to achieve our goals
5. We all have a responsibility to help others achieve their dreams
6. We should never give up on our dreams
7. Making mistakes is part of the learning process – it's how we grow and become better people
8. Helping others is its own reward
9. There is no substitute for hard work
10. We should always aim to be the best we can be
If you share these values, then we welcome you to our community.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Nigel Petrie
Founder of EngineeredToSlide.com
If you have an idea for a project that you would like Nigel to work on, please get in touch via the contact page.
Please Note: Nigel is not available for one-off welding or fabrication jobs.
Nigel is currently booked out until mid-2022.
However, he is still taking expressions of interest for projects to commence from this date.
If you would like to discuss an opportunity to work with Nigel, please send an email to [email protected] with the following information:
- Your name
- Your contact details
- A brief description of your project idea
- An indication of your budget for the project
- Any other relevant information
Nigel will then be in touch to discuss your project further and whether it will be a good fit for both EngineeredToSlide.com and you.
Please note that due to the high volume of requests, Nigel may not be able to respond to everyone individually.
However, he will endeavor to review all submissions and get back to as many people as possible.