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BangShift Question Of The Day: Would You Own A Pro Street Car? Why?


BangShift Question Of The Day: Would You Own A Pro Street Car? Why?

It seems like such a simple question, but the truth is there are so many different ways to look at this. For me it’s a no brainer. Hell yes I would own a Pro Street car! For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s an all show big tire car like Troy Trepanier’s Bumongous, something with way too many power adders and chrome like Dobbertin’s J2000, or something that really hauls ass like Joe Barry’s ’56 Chevy or Larry Larson’s Nova. To me there is just something cool about cruising a big tire car. It’s sorta like getting your first nitrous kit or blower. But there are some folks out there who want nothing that has more tire than a 10.5 on it, or don’t believe in  a car with all those speed parts that doesn’t run in the 7’s. I say good for them, but for me you can have all or part of the package and still have a great time with it.

But what do you think? Would you own a Pro Street car if money were no object or someone handed you one as a gift? Why? Or Why not?

Car Craft Street Machine Nationals DuQuoin 2013 Pro Street 023


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26 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: Would You Own A Pro Street Car? Why?

  1. Gary Smrtic

    No way. My street cars have to be practical, not posers.
    I knew a young man that had a really nice ’66 Mustang. Just a nice all around driver, clean, and cool. He got pro street fever and asked me about a deal he was offfered on a 1st gen Firebird pro streeter. I told him he’d regret it because the Firebird was just. So. Impractical. He traded anyway. The Firebird was very nicely done, but was a useless turd as a daily driver.
    I’ve just got no use for something you can’t use everyday for any occasion. These cars are like jewelery. Bright sparklies, and nothing else.

  2. Beagle

    hell yes I’d drive it, but only in the rain, on the highway, down a bad two lane, at night.

    They’re like mopeds. Fun, but I don’t want anybody seeing me on one.

  3. Challenger 6 Pac

    If I wanted a car I can only drive on weekends I’d have a racecar. O wait a minute, I do have a racecar.
    Pro streeters really ain’t all that bad anyway with their fake blowers and all. I saw a gut in a full size wagon blow the doors off a pro streeter with a blower sricking out of the hood.

  4. GuitarSlinger

    Own a Pro Street ? Nope ! No way . Now a Pro Tourer ? Damn right I’d own one of those .

  5. Matt Cramer

    I’d love to have a car that runs great on the street and can put down good ETs at the strip. And having it look good and have well executed craftsmanship would be a bonus.

    To me, that’s the end, and fat tires, blowers, etc. are a means to an end. If I were given a Pro Street car that could neither be used on the street nor the strip, I’d probably either try sorting it out correctly or selling it, depending on how much work it would take to remedy things. Or, for giggles, make a few quarter mile passes with the car as-is if it seemed basically safe and would pass a tech inspection. I can’t be the only one who wonders what Dobbertin’s J2000 would really run.

  6. Milkovich

    I get it. I like them. I wouldnt’ own one. There is just too much fun you can have without backhalfing a car. 70’s street freak though? I’d daily drive one.

  7. BOB

    Heck yea I would own one. Oh I DO own one. 77 Ford F100. Love the truck. Lots of fun to drive on weekends. It has a ton of tourque. I don’t know what it would run in a quarter mile. Someday I may find out but I’m just not into racing any more. If I had plenty of money to spare for broken parts I might be interested in running it down the track.

  8. Robert M.

    No.
    My greatest enjoyment from hot rodding has come behind the wheel of a sleeper, or what used to be called a Q-ship. (I don’t know if that term is used anymore). Anyway, the idea is something that looks like your grandmother’s Sunday church car, only it is packing a major wallop! Especially if it is a 4 door or a brand not commonly associated with performance (AMC/Rambler has been a perennial favorite). You specifically cannot have any external equipment or graphics which will blow your cover. “Try it, you’ll like it” as they used to say. Way more fun that pro-street…at least for me.

  9. Mildred

    I own a pro street Mercury Zephyr with a 6-71 blower and I drive it all over the place. I have driven through rain, down bad highways and everything in between with no issue at all. To each their own, but I love my pro streeter!!

  10. Mrocketscience

    Hell Yeah… My Mustang is tubbed, I love the big tire look. I primarily race the car, but it’s still street legal.

  11. +Busta Design

    I have owned one of Detroits first ProStreets ever , built at the beginning of the trend way back in…well along time ago. My ’57 Chevy was built by hand without the benefits of billit and kit parts. Over the years I have managed to finesse the old girl with just the right amount of new parts, and engineering to prove that a Massive Big Tire..(MT 33×22.5 radials) car can drive in todays traffic without much struggle.
    Even with a 6-71 blown street-able but fast, chevy small block and a 4speed crunch box! Will drive this thing anywhere, did Power Tours in the rain, sat in the Woodward Dream Cruise idling in traffic with 95* temperatures,, starts, stops, turns, idles, all while drawing more attention than anything I have ever driven. Pro Street today has gone to a new level with sophistication and drivability, while still looking “BADD ASS!!” Shed the mint green and tacky stripes, add some electronics and good old engineering, and go out and enjoy the ride.

  12. chuck

    heck ya i would own a pro-street car and i’ve been thinking of building a 80’s theme pro street car out of my old school camaro

  13. Hotrodcharlie

    Pro streeters are definitely cool! How many people truly drive their hot rods daily? Not many. Might as well have something that really makes a statement!

    I am so tired of the “pro touring” cars that only ride in a trailer. Outside of color, most look the same anymore. Not to mention, I still see more pro street cars driving around than I do pro touring cars. Pro street cars require real fabrication to build, while the pro touring cars can be bolted together with aftermarket parts. If you have ever had the thrill of driving a properly built pro streeter with some horsepower, there is nothing like it.

  14. Randy Gantz

    Why not! How practical are rat rods so severely chopped your head sticks our of the top or 4×4 with six feet of clearance, but isn’t that the point?? We build what we like and what we can afford!!! That’s hot rodding isn’t it. So,YES I’d own one! When I need to be practical, I’ll go get the family car!

  15. Ron Ward

    Hell yes! I would drive the dog whizz out of a pro streeter. Impractical? That is a relative term. I appreciate the fact that I wouldn’t have to tote a group of people around.

  16. George Becker

    Hell yes I would !! – Oh thats right I do own one, and it’s a daily driver, I drive 100 mi. a day. It has over 40,000 mi on it. 1955 Chevy Handyman Wagon with a 409 punched & stroked to 452 dual 4s – 700r4 – 3.70 gears and I’ve never had more fun in my life. And i’ts done Rat Rod style.

  17. The Outsider

    Excluding sub-7.50 race cars with license plates, such as the aforementioned Joe Barry’s and Larry Larson’s Drag Week cars, real street cars should be able to handle corners at speed and in bad weather.

    Moreover, unless one is building to a specific street-strip racing class or copying a historic race car, there’s simply no reason to back-half a car for E.T.s slower than the sevens. Small tire technology has advanced enough to make “pro street” obsolete. Besides, the bang-for-the-buck of a pro streeter isn’t very good (too expensive to build) So no “pro street” for me, thank you.

  18. Turbo Regal

    Just say no to overcammed, over- roll caged fairground queens bouncing along on balloon Mickey Thompson’s. Got over the fad 25 years ago.

  19. starterguy

    Hell yeah Pro Street rules, I loved them in the 80’s and I still do today. Modern tech has made them real performers if you want and as for cutting up a car, I am from Canada and cutting them up is sometimes the best way to save a very rusty classic.

  20. Robert

    No way. It saddens me to think how many great cars have been cut up to make pro street impracticality and are forever useless and are too far gone to be turned back to real street cars.

  21. Grumpy

    Hell no, no way I wouldn’t be caught dead in…. Oh crap wait a minute, I’ve got one!

  22. C Royer

    I just made the choice between sleeper or backhalf, went sleeper. I like both and it cost me more to hide everything, just a personal choice. My car would have been out of the chassis shop two months ago if I had gone for a backhalf, will be done in a couple of weeks, CAN NOT WAIT. there is no wrong answer

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