Street Machines, 20 Years of Pro Street to Pro Touring Part 4
Editor’s Note
In celebration of the Goodguys PPG Nationals 20th anniversary, we are counting down the last twenty recipients of the Goodguys Street Machine of the Year award to show you the cars, but also to chronicle the evolution of modern day Street Machines. Perhaps no other breed of high-performance car has undergone such radical changes. What we used to do with these cars was all about noise, burnouts, straight line acceleration and posing.
As you will see through this 10-part series, the Street Machine game changed dramatically beginning in 2000. The name of the game today is a hybrid sports car/muscle car, bred to run hard and fast be it around sharp corners or cracking 170mph on road course straightaways.
These supercars have never been more popular and have spawned an entire cottage industry of performance parts, suspension components, wheels, and tires. Not only do they look incredibly good, they sometimes outrun their looks. You couldn’t always say that!
Come along for the next 10 weeks as we show you the best Street Machines in the world.
2003 Street Machine of the Year
Glenn Grozich
1962 Chevy Biscayne
What Wes Rydell’s “Grand Master” ’35 Chevy did for street rodding, Glenn Grozich’s “Chicayne” by Troy Trepanier did for Street Machines. A masterful car, Chicayne raised the bar to untold new heights and is still revered today as one of the greatest Street Machines of all time. The arresting Olive green hues covering its smoothed out body, the slammed stance featuring hand crafted one off tubular A-Arms, dropped spindles along with RideTech “Shockwave” shocks and springs as well as the monster motor enabled it to lay over the field. As with all Rad Rides builds, every detail was refined and elite. Take the engine bay which housed the outrageous twin-turbo 1200hp small block Chevy; every nut, bolt and handmade panel was artfully constructed. Hidden wires, perfect paint – it was a masterpiece. It even featured a Buffalo suede interior by Jim Griffin. The colors, the stance, the details and 1,200 ponies established Chicayne as a breed apart.
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2004 Street Machine of the Year
Kathy Lange
1955 Ford Thunderbird
By longtime Lange family friend and rod builder extraordinaire Bobby Alloway, Kathy Lange’s 2004-winning ’55 T-Bird was the last 1950s car to win Goodguys Street Machine of the Year. Aesthetically, this one was perfect as all Alloway builds are. A radical rake, perfect gaps and paint, big back wheels, perfect fit and finish, plenty of chrome and ample power – Kathy’s bad bird pleased the old guard as well as the emerging Pro-Touring crowd. Body mods were not pronounced but they were there – a stretched wheelbase, lowered headlights, tapered fenders and Chevy Nomad rear wheel openings. It was also a harbinger of things to come as it featured a custom Morrison chassis, Alloway-edition Billet Specialties wheels, Wilwood big brakes and a supercharged 5.0 Ford V8. The darker red leather interior was spot-on. At the golf course or on a road course, Kathy’s ‘Bird flew high and mighty.
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Tune in next week for 20 Years of Street Machines Part 4
In the meantime, check out our previous Street Machine stories.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
