While muscle cars and drag racing are about as American as they come, we have a special appreciation for other countries that adopt them into their own car culture. Sure, you talk to any gearhead from the US about drag racing, and they’re sure to beam with star-spangled pride about America’s automotive past-time. However, there’s something to be said about our culture of big V8s and big horsepower spreading to countries around the world.One awesome example of our muscle car and drag racing culture stretching beyond our own borders is the Outlaw Street racing series in Finland. Known as the Blacklist Street Racers, the series is a hardcore elimination bracket that pitches each of the 10 “blacklist” racers against each to compete for the top spot.
The above video (which you’re going to want the closed captioning for) is the first in a series of episodes following the drivers and races of this year’s Blacklist season. The host, Janne Uskali, is the founder of the Blacklist Street Races.
In this first episode, he touches on the history of the series, explaining its underground roots and how it provides an alternative to the illegal street racing that took place before. It’s interesting to see that even in a country on the other side of the world, gearheads have the same need for speed that we do in the States, and illegal street racing is as prominent there as it is here. It seems that the same high-octane blood flows through all of us.
After going over the history, Uskali then visits Tomi Rantakari, who’s currently in the #7 spot on the blacklist. Rantakari has a 650-horsepower Plymouth Duster with an alcohol-fed, 360-inch V8. Like all other cars in the bracket, the Duster also doubles as a street car – which adds another level of depth to the series as a whole.
This killer, low-10 second Duster is only ranked at number 7 on the blacklist; we’re curious what kind of insane street machines live higher up in the rankings. Do you see any cars that you’d love to own… or race against?