Articles by the author Mike Salemme, About
Drag Racing , Pro-Street cars , Vintage Drag Racing cars, Hi-Performance parts, Interviews with builders and drivers.
Street Freak Special ! This 1970 Corvette has such an outrageous custom paint job that it will blind you. The car is a time capsule bringing you back to 1975 when disco was popular, it also was a time when horsepower wasn't enough to win at shows so the people mixed street machine power with lowrider good looks. The Vette features a full custom interior, supercharged small block engine and a 4-speed manual transmission. The interior is filled with a roll bar, metallic vinyl interior accents and wood trim, finishing off the 70's vibe it rolls on classic wire wheels. The engine is a small-block Chevy 400, with a Dyers 6V-71supercharger. It has a pump gas friendly 8.5:1 CR., The supercharger is feed by two boost-referenced Holley 650 CFM carbs. Ignition is handled by a MSD products. The small-block is backed up by a Muncie 4-speed manual transmission. The fumes exit in style with chrome 4-into one side pipes that make this 71' Corvette rumble. Power
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1988 Pro/Street Beretta
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Back in the 1980's the Pro/Street trend was running hot across America and by the 1990's it was across the whole world. No car was off limits and people dared to be different. The builds were over the top, the cars had eye popping paint and mile-high air-induction systems. It wasn't about how much horsepower you had under the hood or sticking out, it was about who could outdo the next guy at the car show.
Other build styles were still going on at the time like traditional hot rod building and simple street machines were still prowling the streets. But Pro/Street was its own special thing and it still is but with a modern twist.
All the major car magazines featured Pro/Street builds from cover to cover and all the readers drooled over them. I know I did and dreamed to own one day. Car Craft, Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding & Super Chevy magazine were the go to publications each month to get your horsepower fix !
I recently came across this 1988 Chevy Beretta that is currently for sale. I remember seeing this car in Hot Rod and Car Craft back in the late 80's. I thought it was really cool because it was originally a front-wheel drive car. When I saw this car, I knew I had to share this with my readers.
This car looks exactly the way it was back in the day, it only has a few hundred miles on it since it was built as it was trailer-ed to and from car shows and was only driven on the street a few times.
The Beretta is powered by an eye-grabbing Chevrolet based 540 big-block with a highly polished 8/71 BDS Blower, on the dyno it made 850 horsepower to the rear wheels on a mild tune. This bad boy is still street legal and still has its original VIN plate.
An MSD Ignition Pro-Billet Distributor & Blaster HVC II Coil
light the fire with Accell 10.4 MM Plug Wires.
The engine features aluminum heads that were heavily ported, the bottom end starts with a Gen-V block with a forged Callies 4.250 stroke crankshaft, JE pistons and a blower grind roller camshaft bumps the valves. A dry-sump oil system keeps the oil flowing. The air enters a BDS scoop then gets mixed with fuel with a set of 750 CFM Demon blower carburetors. Big tube custom headers were ceramic coated and get the fumes out in hurry.
The rest of the drive train consists of a Turbo-400 transmission that's equipped with a trans brake and a Neil Chance converter. A
Hurst shifter changes the gears and sends the power to a Dana-60 rear end filled with 4:56 gears and Strange axles-all swinging on a set of custom 4-link bars.
The rear wing was custom built and takes the race car look and puts it on the street along with a parachute and chrome plated wheelie bars.
The body is all factory steel except for the hood and trunk lid. it's mounted to a custom tube chassis certified to 8.50 seconds. For a street car car it was over built but it shows that the car is filled with high quality engineering making this car race ready.
The chassis also features front A-Arm suspension with
QA1 adjustable coil-over shocks front & rear and Wilwood disk brakes front & rear give it some woah.
The interior is all customwith a color matched roll cage and 5-inch Autometer gauges. The tin work has been fully polished to a mirror shine.
The Beretta rolls on Weld Racing forged aluminum Pro-Star wheels with new M/T 33X21.50-15 Pro Sportsman tires. The front Tires are 26.5-15 Pro Sportsman's.
In this installment of What's in The Garage we check out Paul Kaufmann's over the top Plymouth Arrow. What was once an old street race car from Detroit, it's now a Hemi powered street-machine that looks like noting else on the road. This one is still in the garage but its about to break free. Ten years were spent on this build spanning over four states; New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and now Florida. The story is extensive and Paul has many people to thank. Paul stated that this his first EFI project and its been a blast getting together. Lots of engineering went into planning and executing the build, he had two machinists, one body guy, one chassis shop, and an engine & transmission builder, the list goes on & on ! Paul states he is still wrapping up technical issues and getting ready for the road. Paul stated that the street tires and wheelie bars don't jive but he had the chassis shop build them for him so he can get her on the
Scott Robinson is from southern California and has been into cars his whole life, his earliest memories recount his time spent with his father and his friends. Scott's father raced all types of vehicles, drag boats, sand rails, and cars. These experiences made a major impression on Scott and he couldn't wait to be old enough to drive. When he was old enough, he got heavy into off-road motorcycles then when he got his driver's license all bets were off. Scott forgot about racing motorcycles and went all in and started racing cars. The first car he raced wasn't car at all, it was a 1975 Chevy van. But this wasn't any old worn out work van. This van belonged to Scott's father, it featured a destroked 400 cube small-block built by Scott's Dad, it's backed up with a TH-400 automatic transmission and a narrowed 12-bolt rear end. Scott said it was fun ride for his first car, and when he graduated high-school his father gave it to him. The father and son
This 1962 Corvette Gasser was built to resemble the car Drag Racing legend Big John Mazmanian raced in the 60's. It was a four year no expense spared build,and features the best period correct parts that could be found or they were fabricated when they couldn't . The main attraction is the all aluminum 434 CID. Chevrolet small block . It's filled with a Lunati crank, CP Carillo connecting rods and swings Ross pistons. For the top end, a set of Bodix cylinder heads, which were fully ported and filled with Manley SS valves. For stellar performance , a Dyres 6-71 blower and a pair of 650 Holley double pumpers are mounted up top. The owner stated that the combination is good for 650 Horsepower ! And it's street driven on 93 octane pump gas . This is a factory 4-speed car,so it was natural to keep the manual transmission , the Corvette now features Hurst linkage and a Hurst shifter , power is applied through Lakewood-housing and Centerforce clutch . The interior feat
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