The Term Pro
Street has been around for years now, probably close to 30 years. However there
is still much confusion to what exactly is a Pro Street Car. I have heard many
definitions and many origins of where Pro Street came from. Same say Pro Street
started in the early 80’s when people started taking there Street Legal Novas
and made them look like Pro Stock cars but for the road, others say Pro Street
started in the early 90’s when Hot Rod Magazine started their “Fastest Street
Car Shootout” Drags and eventually Pro Street became a Drag Racing class. The
other story I heard of Pro Street was that people started to build street cars
that looked like Pro Stock cars but used them for Street Racing.
To me, Pro Street cars are kind of
like Gassers, many people know the term Gasser and have an Idea of what a
Gasser is but most don’t know what a Gasser really is.
A Gasser was a Full Bodied car meant
for NHRA Drag Racing in the Gas classes which each class featured slightly
different rules, some Blown, others N/A. The Gassers started in the late 50’s
and were around till some time in the 70’s. The Gassers featured altered
wheelbases, different Engines usually much larger that the stock Engine, large
Drag Tires, straight axels so they could lift the engine in the front for
better weight transfer to the rear of the car on launch. Common cars used as
Gassers were the early 40’s Willy’s Coupes, the early 30’s Willys, the early
40’s Chevy’s and 40’s, the 50’s Henry Js, the 50’s Studebakers , the Tri-Five
Chevy’s and many other cars were also used.
Gassers were mainly a forum of Drag
Car but the Gasser look has also been used on Street Cars and Show cars as
well. Gassers were something that started out as a Drag Racing class but made
its way to the street.
Now Pro Street Cars started in
started around 1979 when Scot Sullivan a hot rodder built a Street legal Nova
that was meant to look like a Pro Stock car for the Road. Through out the 80’s
many people started taking there old Muscle cars and Hot Rods to make them look
like this as well adding Drag Radials, back halving the cars, modifying the
engine with superchargers and other drag racing mods. Soon these Pro Street
cars wanted to race, some started street racing, and soon Drag Streets started
hosting events for Pro Street Cars to keep them off the streets. The Pro Street
Drags got so popular that in 1992 Hot Rod Magazine wanted to find out who had
the fast Street car so the Fastest Street Car Shootout was born, a drag racing
invitational event for the top Fastest Pro Street cars. Soon the NMCA was born
making Pro Street into a drag racing class and since the early 90’s the NMCA
has grown and Pro Street cars have gotten faster and faster now running in the
7’s on a quarter mile, however most of this Pro Street cars actually look like
true Pro Stock cars complete with Parachutes, wheelie Bars, slicks, tubbed
frames, etc. Many people even confuse them for Pro Mod or Pro Stock cars!
However the “more streetable” Pro Street cars still exist.
Pro Street cars are the closest
thing to modern gassers, they have the Drag Racing look, most have the
Horsepower, they are streetable (even the 7 second ones, though I would drive
those on the street) however Gassers started out as a Drag racing class and
made its way to the street, Pro Street started out on the streets and found its
way to the strip over time.
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