Photography Courtesy Matt and Debbie Hay
So what if we lived under a 55 mph national speed limit, pro street was big in the ’80s–well, at least that’s what the hot rod magazines constantly told us.
The basic formula: apply extreme drag cues to a street machine, meaning the standard equipment included part of the engine poking through the hood, giant meats out back and skinnies up front. The hardcores ran a chute. Bonus points for neon colors, unusual body styles and that pulse thing running down the side of the body.
Matt and Debbie Hay were legends in the scene. Their 1984 Cutlass Ciera, winner of the 1986 Street Machine Nationals, ticked all the boxes.
Unorthodox bodystyle? Yup.
Bigs ’n littles? Yup.
Bug catcher poking through the hood and wheelies bars out back? Totally.
It even had that pulse thing down the side.
Then, in 1988, they slammed it out of the park with a 1988 supercharged, day-glo pink Thunderbird. Induction was via not one but two front-mounted superchargers. Like any cool car of the day, it ran SuperTrapp mufflers.
Their Thunderbird won nearly all the awards, grabbed so much magazine ink, and was immortalized by Revell. Then they sold the car.
In 2014, they set out to find their old T-Bird. “After a nationwide search, the Hays found what remained of their once-show-stopping Ford in an obscure corner of Western Pennsylvania,” reports the awesomely titled Tubbed Magazine. “The car had been on display for a number of years in–of all places–a guy’s living room. Parts and pieces had been randomly pilfered over time and the once-award winning retina-searing pink paint was a distant memory covering sheet metal in various stages of disrepair.”
Matt and Debbie totally rebuilt the car before returning to the 2014 Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin, Illinois. “The time required was extensive and the cost astronomical,” continues Tubbed Magazine. “Just one of the car’s twin aluminum radiators cost over $1,000. Matt is certain that the restoration of the car cost far more than the initial price to construct it. Such is the price of Pro Street glory.”
I still love a good Pro Street car. Not the pastel paint colors with heartbeat stripes. But the 15x15 rear wheels, low AF stance, and an 8-71 blower with an Enderle Big N Ugly on it, or a tunnel ram with twin Dominators, that's a look I never get tired of.
I have that kit, still need to build it. Might've lost some pieces.
They re-released the kit a few years ago, so shouldn't be hard to find for anyone who wants one.
Anyone else catch the fly-by laps of the Indy car through their neighborhood?
I have always been a fan of the rear wings on some ProStreet cars. Extending the body lines out flat does it for me.
As I've posted several times over the years, this was local to me:
Notice anything... suspicious here?
YUP - stock, FWD, automatic transmission... dragging that whole abomination around via the pizza cutters.
The TBird was the primary vehicle used in a Super Bowl commercial last year:
ekg Signal
EKG signal in green. Pulse ( blood pressure) in red
Will collect pedant of the day prize on the way out the door...
I would 100% rock a Pro Street something in full late-80's form, complete with retina searing teal with hot pink side graphics and a gray tweed interior. There was nothing cooler back then.
NOHOME said:
Always fascinated by "old but not historic" photos of car events like this. I wonder where they all are today......
Rick Dobbertin was a big player in the Pro Street movement as well. Look up pictures of the Pontiac J2000 he built, although his early Nova was a more realistic street car. These days he's working on a setup for narrowing late model Corvette suspensions for use in ProTouring cars.
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