This little 1976 Vega is 100% street legal (in Minnesota) has a very mild little 350 under the hood (that needs to be fixed), and seems like it would be a spartan but fun little hunk of iron to beat on both at the track and down the street. The stance is good, the Yenko Stinger tribute paint job is cool, and the hood is actually a fun looking piece that seems to combine a Yenko stinger style piece with the cleaved off top of a modern pro stock style hood scoop. Nothing about this car is too over the top and frankly it is one of the few pro street style machines we have ever looked at and thought it was probably capable on the strip as well. Let’s agree on one thing though, it does need more power.
Maybe our standards are too low (or do no answer that) but this car looks nicely put together. It is certainly not flashy or overly finished but when you see how the wiring is laid out, how things are clean, the tin work is nice, the cage looks well done, it is just a solid car. No, it will not win any car show awards or garner praise from master craftsmen for its compound bends and custom metal shaping but it also won’t get you laughed out of your local strip at the tech department, either.
We would do a couple things to the car in order to make it more comfy on the street. The first thing would be to complete the exhaust system. It currently dumps under the car with a pair of bullet style race mufflers. Moving the mufflers back and funneling the sound out would not make it whisper quiet in there but it would be better. We’d swap the seats for another style of aftermarket bucket. Those racing seats aren’t bad at the strip when you are in and out of the car, but some comfier pieces would be better on the road.
On the performance side we would run it at the strip as it sits and then bust out the nitrous while we worked on a new motor. How cool would a stack injected big block look spilling out of this little car, right? There is nothing wrong with the 350 in it right now and frankly it is probably the best possible choice for a car like this but urge overkill would take over and we’d want an over the top looking (and likely acting) rat motor making the power.
Call us names if you want but we love this thing. Do you?
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK BELOW FOR THE REST –
EBAY LINK: THIS 1976 VEGA IS READY TO ATTACK THE STREET AND STRIP
Great looks?
Not with that hideously out of proportion wheel/tyre combo….
tyre?
I guess you don’t get the “Pro Street” look, huh?
Car looks killer! Throw some “Grumpy’s Toy” paint and graphics on it and it would be perfect!
I get the “Pro Street” look when the wheels and tires match and are in proportion with each other – not this hideous mismatch!
What’s mismatched about it? This is a pretty standard wheel/tire setup for a race car. What sizes do you think it should have?
When it comes to this era of economy car, I tend to skew more toward the Pinto and Gremlin over the Vega, but this one hits a few of the right buttons.
My one hope for it is that the future owner simply works this car’s existing small block over, the old-school Pro-Street look needs and old-school looking motor. Maybe a little chrome and billet removal is necessary, though.
Yeah, I kind of think I prefer having a nasty small block in this one rather than a big block swap. This car seems like it would be just right to have dual quads on a tunnel ram, on top a Mouse that spins to eight grand.
I like that idea. With that scoop, this car is practically begging for dual quads on a high-rise.
My car is for sale on EBay too. I think BS should’ve featured it instead
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201379825758?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Why?
This must be your car, Jeff. Best of luck selling it.
This car doesn’t need luck. Already sold. What’s the bid up to on yours Jerry?
“Pro-Street” is a highly overused and misused term. Pro Street is a car typically built in the 90’s with a huge tire in the back, lowered stance, lots of tweed inside, and lots of billet under the hood. Most with flashy paint and graphics (usually pastels!).
This car is a race car. Just because it has a big n little setup doesn’t make it pro-street. Pro street is a car that looks like a race car….but was never intended to race, but rather show and cruise the fairgrounds.
That said, this little car is tits. A turbo or nitrous stroked small block would finish it out nicely.
Yes Jeff, by the 90’s, “Pro Street” pretty much became “Pro Fairgrounds” since the cars were more fluff than substance.
Pro Street started back in the 70’s when they were really just slightly detuned race cars.
That concludes your history lesson for today.
Thanks for the lesson, Jerry, and I’m well aware of the history. But the term Pro-Street is most known today for the 90’s (awful) interpretations. I don’t think anyone could look at this car and think it is “pro-street” currently.
There is a lot of billet in that engine bay, and that motor currently has more flash than go. Personally, I feel this car is blurring the lines of pro-street and race car.
Otherwise, I like what you have to say. I didn’t know that those were the origins of the style.
It appears that the owner probably just dropped an old motor in the car to sell it. I’ve done that too. Easier to sell something that moves under it’s own power. The engine obviously doesn’t fit the rest of the car, so that would be my guess.
Loud and slow. All that roll cage, tin interior, hard seats, the whole race car 9 yards and a weak motor. 12’s? A car like this talk’s the talk, it need’s to walk the walk.
this was a race car and it ran 8.70 ‘s the motor and tranny were changed so the car could be given to a 16 year old kid to get him interested in racing and cars ,i know the guy who used to own it he is a great guy and it is a really cool car
It’s not as cool as the red vega that won modified pa Drag Week last year.
That’s a nice car. Yeah, a hotted engine (LS and a turbo anyone?) would be nice but it’s well done and sold fair.
Mismatched “tyre”? Maybe it’s not the same A78/13s that were on your MGB, but they loo at home on this rig.