Anyone else cringe at 60s "pro street" cars? Crate engine, tubbed, blower

[sugarwood]

When I see a chopped up pro street car, all I can think it that the person worked very hard to ruin what would have been a nice classic car.
I assume they are not very practical at all, and the majority are rarely driven.

This seems like a paradigm that was popular in the 80s or something.
Did this get popular when muscle cars were not as collectible as they became in the 90s?

When I see these cars re-listed for sale, it appears they are not easy to sell.
It now seems very dated, and I wonder who buys these cars today.
Guys under 40 probably associate it as their "dad's car".
But, their 60/70 year old dad's aren't buying 500hp cars that are tubbed with hood blowers on them.
They're most likely selling them off.

[Nostril Cheese]

Try drag racing sometime. Then you'll get it.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I hate "resto-mods" even more. They do a great job on the exterior and under the hood, but then throw on horrendous dubs and a crappy modern-ish interior.

[wdfifteen]

How many zillion Cameros did they make? There ought to be enough to go around to restorers and customizers. I don't get the nomenclature though. What does the "pro" signify?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I don't get the nomenclature though. What does the "pro" signify?

Pro Street - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pro Street is a style of street-legal custom car popular in the 1980s, usually built to imitate a Pro-street class race car. Pro Street cars should appear to be more at home on the drag strip than the street, while remaining street legal and not gutted like a Race Car or Bracket Race car. Typically called a Backhalf car (tubbed).

Cars of this type always feature two of the following three modifications:

A highly-modified, with supercharger or turbo, large capacity V8, V12, V10, V6, I6 engine.
A narrowed rear axle coupled with oversized rear wheels & at least an 11" wide tire (located within the wheelwells) for maximum grip and wheelie bars
An NHRA legal roll cage.

Cars of this type should remain modified from the firewall back but keep a full interior with windshield wipers, carpet and working lights.

[mph911]

I would love a tubbed, blown, stock engined wagon to cruise to the beach on a Sunday. There's too many boring cars on the road!

Like this, with tubs and blower..

[bri450sl]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

I hate "resto-mods" even more. They do a great job on the exterior and under the hood, but then throw on horrendous dubs and a crappy modern-ish interior.

I love the idea of a resto-mod. The fact that you could have an older vehicle with the handling and reliability of a new vehicle really appeals to me. However, it should still look old. No 22" dubs or new recaro buckets.

[VFR750]

Would a 911SC with elephant racing GT3 suspension, Brembo big brakes, turbo flares, 18s, and a 3.6 "crate" motor be a "Euro" Pro Street, or a Resto Mod?

Would you say "no" to it?

Pro street looks like a lot of fun, but a restomod 69 camaro would be sweet.

I agree, 22 are silly. 17-18 fit my range of aesthetic rubber to rim ratio.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by bri450sl

I love the idea of a resto-mod. The fact that you could have an older vehicle with the handling and reliability of a new vehicle really appeals to me. However, it should still look old. No 22" dubs or new recaro buckets.

Yea, this is kinda the way I feel. No one will dictate to me what I can or can't do to my car whether it's a new econo box, my 85 944, or a 67 Chevelle. The beauty of hotrodding is seeing the ideas other people have on what is cool to them.

I actually cringe to hear about complete stock rebuilds that obsess over the correct frame stickers or where the factory overspray should be....what's the point, there is no originality to doing that, that's whay I love restomods, and pro-touring cars.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Try drag racing sometime. Then you'll get it.

Exactly

[DanielDudley]

I am not a big fan of Pro Street, but it takes a lot of skill and money to build a nice one, and I don't have to drive it. If I see a good one, I may very well say to the owner, ''Nice Car !'', or ''Nice job.'', even though I would never want to own it or drive it.

Some of them are seriously fast cars, with Lencos and built engines. I am not a big fan of Diablos either, but they have their following. Everyone has their thing.

I was recently looking at a nice older 2WD Ford Ranger lowered with a Mustang GT engine and 5 speed for 3K. It would make a fun parts runner for me. These are just toy cars that one can ride around in, whether they cost 30 dollars or 30,000. What does it matter if it is a long hood 911 or a pro street Camaro, if you live in the Bronx and you aren't really going to take it out much. Dream cars, happy thoughts, and a reason to go out to the garage, or cruise the neighborhood.

Maybe we have to floor it once in a while, like a ''sneeze''.

[911_Dude]

Ive been wanting to build a Pro Street car, probably Camero, for a while now. The sound of a huge V8 and headers (plus all the other power mods) is pure heaven. Just listening to them idle brings a tear to my eyes.

I say mod away! Cars are for fun.

[sugarwood]

In the photo of the '69 Camaro, is the front axle narrowed also?
What does that achieve? Tighter turning radius?

[DanielDudley]

Snot Rod - Pixar Cars Wiki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccq5cXjPzRw

[Scuba Steve]

It doesn't really bug me, probably because I know someone who owns a classic Austin Healy that he would be horribly flamed for becuase of the engine, drivetrain and bracing added to the car. He bought it around 1970 from a junkyard for $50. At the time it ws just an old worn out car that would have been crushed years ago so out of the two options (car no longer exists vs. car exists with a few "upgrades") I'll take the second one. It's really more of a sleeper anyway, except for the noise, casters underneath the rear bumper and insane rear wheels. The car does a good part of the 1/4 mile on two wheels and words can't describe how awesome it was the first time I got to be a passenger in there!

On resto-mods I'm a little mixed but they all seem to reflect the owner. Someone on another board I'm on is doing one now wtih a '60something Chevelle. It has an LS engine and T56 transmission, repainted to match the original color. On the other hand getting rid of the original gauges and wheels is not something I would have done. It's his car, they made a ton of them and before his project it sat disassembled underneath a lean-to since the '90s.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

When I see a chopped up pro street car, all I can think it that the person worked very hard to ruin what would have been a nice classic car.
I assume they are not very practical at all, and the majority are rarely driven.

This seems like a paradigm that was popular in the 80s or something.
Did this get popular when muscle cars were not as collectible as they became in the 90s?

When I see these cars re-listed for sale, it appears they are not easy to sell.
It now seems very dated, and I wonder who buys these cars today.
Guys under 40 probably associate it as their "dad's car".
But, their 60/70 year old dad's aren't buying 500hp cars that are tubbed with hood blowers on them.
They're most likely selling them off.

I doubt that that's a crate engine under that "hood blower"; probably an aluminum huge block, something in the 600ci range, milled from a solid block of aluminum on a cnc with heads to match from a company like Sonny's that does these for a living.

When it comes to cars, and especially hobby cars I'm of the same mind as I am of music. Who am I to judge what other people like?

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

In the photo of the '69 Camaro, is the front axle narrowed also?
What does that achieve? Tighter turning radius?

That car would have a full roll cage, a tube front end, and lightweight drag suspension. It really is a drag car for the street, with an interior. In a world where Hot Rod Magazine still had a tremendous following, Pro Street was as much a commercial venture to sell manufactured parts as it was a home grown movement.

If you followed hot rodding, you will also remember when billet parts became the next new thing to spend money on. Rat Rodding was a true roots movement, designed to take hot rodding away from the manufacturers and put it back into ,the hands of home builders. Sooner or later though, some people will wind up being very successful, and will want to build something ''nice''.

Not unlike buying a ''present'' for your 911. Pro Street was like the ''ultimate'' street rod of the 80's, at least in some people's minds. To some, it was a ''refreshing'' and business like change from the mega paint job street cars of the 70's, with all the fiberglass, pinstripes and murals.

It's all part of the American car culture.

[Oh Haha]

I can appreciate the time/effort/$$$$ put into cars of that level but don't have the want for one.

If I had the funds to have a muscle car along with the 911 it would probably be closer to the Pro-Touring side. Fast and agile but stock appearing body with a modern drivetrain.

If you haven't watched "Search for the Ultimate Street Car" check it out.

[sugarwood]

Got a link? My searching came up with just a trailer.

It looks like modern cars are the winners
2014 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational Overall Results | OPTIMABATTERIES

[Oh Haha]

From YouTube--sorry about the ad...

https://youtu.be/5ksbVN4f1ig