Conference napalm::musclecars

	Not sure about the popularity of street racing in the US anymore.
	Sure you'll see someone square off at a light and blast a few blocks,
	but the police and public just don't put up with it like they used
	to.  

	In the 70's when I lived in Southern California, if you didn't have
	a hot ride you were't squat.  That was a very fun time.  My street
	ride would run mid 11's with L60-15 street tires.  Never got to try
	a set of slicks on.  But anyway you could always find a street race
	and a quiet street through the orange groves to fly down.

	There were a couple of street racer clubs at the time too.  One was
	the LA County Street Races.  I attended several meetings.  We would
	meet at a big shopping mall at 12 PM on Sundays.  A collection would
	be taken incase someone got picked up, didn't happen often, and needed
	bail.  A place would be chosen to race at.  It was always an industrial
	park in the middle of nowhere, where no one would likely notice or
	complain.  The location changed every week.  The matches would be
	setup and some money wagered.  There were everything from mild street
	cars to full blown bracket racers on trailers.  Everyone would leave
	the area and take different routes to the chosen spot.  A starting
	and finish line was determined and a starter would stage and start
	the racers.  Usually the races went without a hitch.  The sheriff's
	office seemed to look the other way.  

	Then one day the club president Big Willy, the LA major, and LA 
	sheriff struck a deal to make the club more legal.  There was an
	old airstrip off Long Beach that the sheriff was using for a driving
	skills course.  The location was right at the ocean and in the middle
	of warehouses and piers.  Perfect spot.  Anyway the landing strip
	was converted to a 1/4 mile strip with lights and timing.  Bleachers,
	guard rails, and fences were setup.  There was a pit area and it was 
	and the place was organized.  This was open on Sundays with a $5 entry
	fee.  Run what you brought.  It was more of a family outing then,
	picnics too.  This lasted almost 6 months till the Harbor Commission,
	some goverment agency, decided they weren't consulted properly and had
	the place closed down and it stayed that way.  I moved away shortly
	afterwords and don't know what came of the club.

I think that the fastest street car here in the states is reported to be running 
in the 8s.  That is the fastest that has been tested by the magazines. There may 
be faster untested street cars out there though.

As far as I am concerned, if it passes your local safety and/or emissions tests,
has a valid registration and license plates, it's a street car.  It should 
probably at least run street tires on (the street) too.

Just one man's opinion...

Mark

BTW, Richard, your Mustang sounds like a pretty neat ride.  It seems like it'd be
pretty tough (and expensive) to do something like that that in Sweden.

re .1

Street racing is alive and well.  At least here in Colorado Springs it is.  There
is an industrial park in the southeast part of the city where the heavy hitters
go at it from time to time.  The munchers are well aware of the location and do
make arrests on a regular basis.

Mark

    The fastest "streetracer" I believe is in dispute between a group
    in Australia, and a couple guys in Indiana or Illinois.  The US folks
    are called the <mumble> Boys and have a REGISTERED, street legal
    Camaro which runs 8.9's in STREET LEGAL trip (muffled/DOT approved
    tires).  This was debated in "Super Stock & Drag Illistrated" recently.
    The next quickest car I believe is a Ford Mustang (from Virginia?) which
    also likes to think it's the quickest around.
    
    The moment you uncork the car, and put slicks on it, it's not a
    "street" car anymore.  This doesn't prevent people from racing on
    public roads with hardware like this though.  I remember the 
    Bicentennial Highway in Longmeadow Mass several years ago.  Fuzz
    film on Saturday, arrest on Sunday.
    
    A tactic I used to use is "get the word out" that the big race
    is on the east side of town @ midnight.  So when the "real" race
    happens on the west side of town @ 11:30pm, the cops and 1/2 the high
    school are left standing around waiting. 

    - .2
    
    My Mustang is a rather nice behaving pony. It is streetable even 
    though there is no pleasure in riding it 50 miles or more without 
    pauses. In Sweden there is no problems to get parts, there is a lot
    of firms that fly and boat in parts from US. The problem is as 
    always money. The price in Sweden is about 1.5 times the price in 
    US. 
    
    For a lot of guys here in Sweden it's a small price to pay. It feels
    really great to drive that old american iron with a lot of muscle in
    it. This weekend I won a local street race against a couple of Fire-
    birds and a Camaro and then it feels even better.
    
    -.4 
    
    I agree that a REGISTERED muffled/DOT equipped car is what should 
    be considered as a must to be called a "streetracer". The events 
    that I was talking about in .0 will have a slicks and a DOT class.
    I think that the cars in both classes must have mufflers. The cars
    must also be able to cruise around for half an hour before the race.
    That is a good rule because I guess that will rule out a lot of pure
    dragracers....
    
    I will post the results from Europe street finals as soon as I get 
    them in this note...
    
    				Richard

    
     Sounds like the Pro-Street cars are spreading around the world. Never
    did quite under stand that trend myself.
    
    

    There are two US fastest street car competitions each year which are
    set up by competing car magazines.  Last years winners were in the low
    8's, but this year there are a couple who claim they are testing new
    cars that run in the 7's.  BTW, last years winner I believe was Rod
    Saboury in an old Corvette.  He run low eights through the mufflers
    without a blower or nitrous.  A naturally aspirated stroked Chevy big
    block.  The specs on some of those cars are pretty amazing.  I had 
    never seen a 4" diameter exhaust system on a street legal registered
    car before.

    I believe the engine block you were talking about is the new Superblock
    casting by World Products.  It's a big block Chevy that has a much 
    higher deck height and certain cast-in features like raised cam location
    and scalloped pan rails to allow long throw crankshafts.  They say that
    you can get 752 cubic inches out of it without any extra machining.
    They did a super job of designing it and most parts from a stock chevy
    motor will fit it.  It can also be machined to accept Ford, Olds, and
    Chrysler Wedge or Hemi parts.  They thought of everything.

    Cheers,
    --Dave
    

    -.7
    
    I think Rod Saboury was the guy that is considered the man who was 
    first in the 7's this summer. I am not really sure about that though..
    
    752 cu.in ............ It is unbelievable. I have to start saving my
    money....., I want one of those, I want one of those, I want one of 
    those...
    
    My 351 windsor suddenly feels very, very weak and small.... I hope some
    NOS stuff will cheer it up until next season ( Let's Cheat ;>) ).
    
    Richard

    
    Europe Street Finals is over, WOW.... 3 cars in the 7's , 20 cars in
    the 8's and 47 cars that was running under 10 seconds.
    
    The Nightmare Racing Team I was talking about in .0 was fastest, 7.82
    173 mph !!! 
    
    The rules are, working headlights, muffled, You have to go 20 kilo-
    metres withour overheating or other problems before first start. 
    Between races You have to be ready in 10 minutes. There is one class
    for slicks and one D.O.T approved tirees.
    
    Here is the fastest time slips:
    
    			S l i c k s 
    			-----------
    
    	The nightmare racing team, Hasse Knuuters	7.82, 173 mph
    
    	The Nasty Toys team, �ke "Bagarn" Persson	7.90, 173 mph
    
    	Bj�rn "Croncan" Cronqvist			7.96, 174 mph
    
    
    			D . O . T
    			_________
    
    	Micke Wickman 					9.15, 150 mph
    
    	Micke M�rtensson				9.28, 145 mph
    
    
    Pretty impressive numbers even though I don't define these cars
    as "Street Racers".
    
    The event that is called World Street Finals is run in Orlando 
    Florida, this weekend or the next. Sweden will ship their fastest
    cars "over there" to have a go at the fastest U.S "Street Racers".
    It will be quite interesting to see the results from that event.
    Please, post them in this note.
    
    			Regards, Richard 

    Re-1
     Richard, could you post some details about the various cars, what they
    are and what they're powered by? 
                                                  John M.
    

    
    Re .-1
    
    The Camaro that is the fastest "street racer" in Sweden, Europe and
    the world according to "what people say" is described in .0 (the
    nightmare racing team). I can add that rumour has it that the engine 
    has been dynoed to 1170 hp WITHOUT NOS. And these guys runs A LOT OF 
    nos.
    
    The second fastest, �ke "Bagarn" Persson runs a Chevy NOVA '66. He has 
    a brand new 570 cu.in. engine that I don't have any info on. The trans'
    is a Powerglide with 8" converter. The rearend is a DANA 60 with 4.88
    to 1 ratio. He uses a Nitrous Works 'gas system. The car is the
    lightest of the Swedish top street racers, 2730 pounds.
    
    The third fastest, Bj�rn "Croncan" Cronqvist has a Corvette that is 
    HEAVILY modified. It has a tube chassie and a lot of plastic parts 
    above it ;^). He has a 622" Donovan that has 4.560" bore and 4.750"
    stroke with Dart Big Chief heads. The 'gas is a NOS ProShot Fogger
    AND a NOS big shot and a NPC progressive 'gas box. Transmission is
    a heavily modified TH400 with Lenco parts and a 9" converter. The 
    rearend is a FORD (at last I got to write the WORD ;^) ) 9" with 
    40 splines axles and 4.10:1 ratio. It weighs somewhere around 2800
    pounds.
    
    The fastest car on D.O.T tires, Micke Wickman has a '66 Chevelle
    with a Chevy 540 cu.in. engine. Bore is 4.500" and stroke is 4.250"
    and he has Dart Stage VII Bill Mitchell heads. Th etransmission is a 
    TH400 with a 8" converter. The rearend is a FORD 9" with 40 splines 
    axles and 4.56:1. The weight is 2900 pounds.
    
    The runner up in the D.O.T class Micke M�rtensson has an all aluminium
    RODECK 565" engine. It weighs 3460 pounds and is a car that consists of
    all steel. The only car of these five that doesn't have a tube chassie
    as I understand it.
    
    I wonder where these guys get the dough to run these "things". I would
    like to find the same source that they seem to dig money from. I know
    these cars cost a lot in US and You can take the amount it costs in US 
    and multiply with 1.5 then You have the cost for us poor, poor Swedes
    ;^) ;^) ;^).
    
    Richard

    
    Here are the results from the World Street Finals, Orlando Florida.
    It seems that the baddest street racers were there. They raced in
    three categories, Real Pro Street (DOT tires), Pro Street (Slicks)
    and Super Pro Street (Lenco allowed).
    
    To make sure the cars were streetable they had to make a 12 mile 
    cruise in 30 minutes before the race. 
    
    			The Results.
    			____________
    
    			Super Pro Street 
    __________________________________________________________________
    
    1.  Mike Moran/Carter 	Kentucky '66 Chevy II
    
    2.  Bjorn Cronqvist		Sweden	 '65 Corvette
    
    3.  Steve Grebeck		Michigan '77 Plymouth
    
    __________________________________________________________________
    			Pro Street
    __________________________________________________________________
    
    
    1.	Ronnie Bergstrom  	Sweden	 '67 Camaro
    
    2.  Micke Kalvestrand	Sweden   '70 Chevelle
    
    3.  Hans Knuters		Sweden	 '67 Camaro
    
    __________________________________________________________________
    
    			Real Pro Street
    __________________________________________________________________
    
    1.  Jeffrey Stubbs		Virginia  '86 Camaro
    
    2.  Marc Smith 		Alabama   '69 Camaro Cab
    
    3.  "Mange" Eriksson	Sweden    '65 Chevelle
    
    
    It was many close races between the Swedes and the U.S Street racers.
    Times was in Super Pro Street down to 7.80, in Pro Street down around 
    8.0 and in Real Pro Street down to 8.50. 
    
    Some of the Swedes stayed a week in US and went to Super Chevy show.
    It must have been nice conditions there because the fastest ET's of
    the year were put down there. Ronnie Bergstrom run 7.85/181 there,
    Hans Knuters with the Nightmare Racing Camaro ran 7.67/171 and Ake
    "The Baker" ran 7.63/181 after that the Swedes were taken off the track
    because they didn't have NHRA approved chassies.

                 <<< VMSNET::drag$note:DRAG_RACING.NOTE;1 >>>
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Note 5.2                  Memphis International Raceway                   2 of 2
BSS::BOREN                                            6 lines  29-SEP-1995 09:32
                           -< NMCA Shootout Finals >-
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    The NMCA Fastest Street Car Shootout Finals are next weekend.   Anyone
    planning on coming to the event?  I've heard from a few Drag-Net'rs
    coming down from Boston and a couple coming from Detroit.