Why Pro Street Is Cool
We were scanning the NMCA rule book and scheming about how to build a Street Race car when we found the rules for Pro Street. It's not really a pocket-money class, but it was fun to bench-race it. We were digging the heavy-duty hardware you can run and the open-ended rules. Here's why it's manly.
The cubic-inch limit is 830, and you can run a nitrous, supercharged, or turbocharged big-block on gasoline or alcohol. Aluminum blocks are permitted with up to 5.00-inch bore spacing, and other than a few blower-size restrictions and minor engine guidelines, anything goes. You're going to see 6-second passes in the 200-mph range and gnarly pro-built chassis poppin' the chutes through the traps. Best of all, it's all heads-up and all American cars. If we had the loot, we would be on it.
Department Of High Rollers
If we had fat cash we'd probably end up blowing 10 grand on a guitar that was paint-matched to the C6-R racing Corvette. Then we'd try to explain it away by noting that Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars are used by Carlos Santana, Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge, and a veritable who's who of top musicians. That's what PRS is hoping by offering a custom axe to Corvette lovers.
If you haven't heard, the Corvette C6-R is designed to race in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) after making its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the production-based GT1 class (formerly GTS). It has the super-trick LS7 mill that displaces 427 ci and probably makes way more than the factory-rated 500 hp. We can't play the guitar, but we probably can't drive a GT1 car that well either. Buy one at prsguitars.com and you'll be pickin' and grinnin'
Read A Book
50 Years Of The Mouse
When the small-block Chevy hit 50 years old this year, this not-insignificant achievement was recognized by "Chevy Small-Block V-8: 50 Years of High Performance" by Mike Mueller and published by Motorbooks. While hardly a gripping title, this is a full-color, large-format coffee-table book that chronicles all four generations of the small-block Chevy.
If you're looking for cool engineering shots or an engineering treatise you'll be disappointed, but there is an intriguing set of pics that points out an all-aluminum 377ci small-block that Zora Arkus-Duntov had destined for the '63 Grand Sport competition Corvettes. The small-block engines never materialized for those cars, but another photo shows an all-alloy 377 with Weber carbs that did make its way into Jim Hall's Chaparral road-race cars of that same era.
Overall, the historical photos are fun, but we were hoping for something more in-depth than what Mueller delivered. It will still look good on your coffee table, especially if you have one of those glass tables with a complete small-block as the base. You can pick this book up for about $40 at motorbooks.com.-Jeff Smith
An Affordable Ls6 Chevelle
With real LS6 454 Chevelles selling for stupid money and even clones and replicas out of reach, there is one last bastion of hope for those who would like to own Chevy's most powerful musclecar (that isn't a ZO6 Corvette). Exact Detail is now building a '70 SS454 LS6 Chevelle befitting of the company name.