Street Features: After A Full Year Of Cars, It’s Time To look Back

We’ve been running our Street Features for a full year now. It’s hard to believe, but we debuted the series last year in July. In that time, we’ve shown off nearly 100 amazing cars, including quite a few that were submissions from you folks, the readers.

We are really looking forward to what he next year holds in store, but before we start looking forward, let’s take a look back.  We’ve gone through each of the cars in the series and picked out our five favorites. It was tough to pick just five since every other car is an honorable mention, but we think these are all worth a second look.

Number 5 — Michael Yount’s LS Powered 1982 Volvo

Now this was a fun car to do a feature on. A 1982 Volvo is not one that we would really think of as a streetrod or a performance vehicle, but the owner, Michael Yount of Charlotte, North Carolina, has built it to be something of a serious sleeper.

The chassis has about 225,000 miles on it and it’s been V8 powered since 1996 – Michael

Although from the outside it looks innocent enough, like a clean vintage Volvo 242, when you pop the hood or hit the gas you’re in for a surprise. It’s powered by an LS3 engine that’s followed by a 5-speed manual transmission and Ford 8.8-inch rearend with 3.55:1 gearing. “The chassis has about 225,000 miles on it and it’s been V8 powered since 1996,” Michael explained. “First with a 5.0-liter ford engine, and during 2015/2016 I swapped in a new crate LS3.”

Other than the heavily upgraded drivetrain and suspension system, the car remains basically stock. It still features the standard interior, instruments, and Volvo Rose Beige paintjob that it got about 15 years ago. Of course, that’s part of what makes this car so great. It pulls about 430 horsepower from the LS engine, which is great for a little 3,000-pound car, and really gives it some get-up-and-go. Not only that, but as Michael described, it still gets the same fuel economy as the original 2.1 Liter engine.

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Number 4 — Dennis Stone’s 1956 Cool Cruisin’ Chevy Wagon

No top five would be complete without a Tri-Five Chevy. We’ve seen our share of high-end LS and big-block builds, but there is something to be said about a simple-built cruiser. This one, owned by Dennis Stone of Bremerton, Washington, was built for cruising comfort and is about as clean as they come.

We love the long-roof beauty that Dennis has built for himself, and just as well we also love the simple and nearly bullet-proof drivetrain that he put in it. The engine is a small-block 350 cubic-incher built to put out 340 horsepower, it’s fueled by a Holley carburetor, moved with an automatic transmission, and introduces rubber to the road using a 3.02:1 geared positraction rearend out of a 1964 Corvette.

Dennis has had the car for six years and has worked to make it his own in that time. When he bought it, the previous owner had started a racecar build on it, but that wasn’t what Dennis wanted. He wanted a cruiser. “The guy was kind of trying to run it on the track,” Dennis explained. “I just want a cruiser.”

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Number 3 — Chevy Power Meets Pontiac Style In this 1951 Silver Streak

 

This is the kind of car that you just can’t walk past at a car show. From the ghosted flames on the copper colored paint to the unreal custom interior job that you have to see to appreciate, Fred Dickinson’s 1951 Pontiac Silver Streak lands at number 3 on our list.

We just can’t get enough of this Pontiac. It’s powered by a small-block 350 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine with a TH350 automatic transmission, and positraction rearend. It also features an Edelbrock carburetor, air conditioning, a custom center console, and Auto-Meter gauges.

The diamond-tuck interior is one of our favorite things about the car and is a seriously well done. The colors are perfect and the craftsmanship is just out of this world. It’s also a rarity at shows these days when just a few decades ago diamond-tuck was the go-to style for hotroders. “I picked out the colors and told him to be creative,” Fred told us. “And he did a great job.” Credit for the stellar upholstery work goes out to Michael Worley at MLW Upholstery.

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Number 2 — Dan Frazzini’s Old School, Straight Lined, 1968 Dodge Charger

 

Straight lines, fat tires, and Mopar power are what makeup this badass ‘68 Dodge Charger that lands at number two on our list. It’s powered by a 505 cubic-inch stroker motor that is set to output 550 horsepower and 580 ft-lb of torque. Mate that engine to its 18-spline Hemi 833 4-speed manual transmission with a pistol grip shifter and you’ve got yourself one awesome ride.

I always wanted mine to be more of an old-school, straight line, intimating street bruiser – Dan

“The ’68 is my favorite year of the Charger,” Dan told us. “The round taillights are a one-year only and the solid front grill is very intimidating. I always wanted mine to be more of an old-school, straight line, intimating street bruiser.” We think he hit the mark. Dead on. This is the kind of car you would not want to meet at a red light.

With looks to kill and a drivetrain to match, it’s no wonder why this thing landed our list without question. You can’t go wrong with Mopar power and a ’68 Charger is the best way to represent that on our list. We love this Charger.

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Number 1 — Jim Pick’s All Muscle 1966 Chevy Malibu

 

Here it is, number one. This Marina Blue 1966 Chevy Malibu defines muscle and has the looks and power to fight off anything else that tries to take the title. Jim Pick of Gearheart, Oregon, built this beast from the ground up and made himself a car that could handle itself in any situation.

I got it as an old rust bucket from a barn in Astoria with nothing in it – Jim

Jim used to be a Harley rider, but had a stroke in 2010 and thought he would be better off on four wheels going forward. He traded his Harley for this Chevy and started the build. “I got it as an old rust bucket from a barn in Astoria with nothing in it,” he explained. “I worked on it every weekend for three years as part of my rehab process.” He focused on using his left hand and used the build process of this car to bring restore his own motor functions as he restored the car.

Going from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to a four-wheeled car meant that he was going to need some serious firepower under this car. With that in mind, he built it with a big-block 496 cubic-inch stroker motor that puts out an impressive 602 horsepower and 552 ft-lb of torque.

Th engine was assembled by Britco Engines in Centrailia, Washington, and features Edelbrock E-Force aluminum heads, a Moroso oil accumulator, Holley 950cfm carburetor, MSD ignition, and Flowmaster exhaust. It also has a turbo-400 transmission and Moser Musclepack rearend with 3.55:1 gearing. You don’t want to mess with this car. Period. “I’ll drive it to the track, let the engine cool, and smoke the cars that were trailered there,” Jim told us.

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What do you think of our top five picks? What would your be? Make sure you tell us in the comments below. If you have a favorite that you feel was left out, let your voice be heard! In the meantime, we would still love to see more of the cars that you are out driving. If you have a hotrod, racecar, or sleeper of some kind, send in an email and we’d love to show it off as one of our Street Features.