While there are fond memories, there's also the specter of street machine styles that seemed ghastly at the time but now have the aura of retro on their side. For that reason I keep expecting hair-era Pro Street cars to make a big comeback, though seemingly they won't, and I've recently developed a kink for the pre-Pro Street machines. Before I hit driving age, car magazines were loaded with stuff that was already deemed garish by the late '80s, but now my mind's eye has a fondness for the likes of gold anodized Moroso valve covers and M/T finned aluminum. Those Cal Custom winged valve-cover bolts never really worked, but they speak of the era, as do Holley Blue pumps and chrome, spin-on Fram fuel filters hanging under back bumpers. I could live without velour interiors, but all of a sudden cable-drive tachs and Cragar S/S wheels do something for me. I might even be able to make a mailbox hoodscoop look right, especially if I could find some Motor Wheel Flies. I'd like to have some Motor Wheel Spyders, too, and it's encouraging that American Racing just rereleased Ansen slot mags. Looking back on those '70s street machines, there's something that tells me that those tacky panel-painted graphics with wild splotch, lace, smoke, and psychedelic treatments could be made cool again, and I'd even volunteer to prove it with my '73 Camaro except that I'd never be able to afford the paint work. Just like today's rat rod builders have interpolated the '50s treatment into a new cartoonish style, I could see a new style emerging where modern street machines are built using '70s design cues but with more driveability, speed, and comfort than the original cars had. The major deviation from the '70s would have to be a slammed stance with a total avoidance of lift shackles and air shocks. It's a look that would either crash hard or start a new mini trend. Call it That '70s Look. Call it anything but 22-inch rims. That alone could make it good. What do you think?-David Freiburger
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