BROADCAST

IWAS recently drawn into some online discourse about what constitutes a ‘street car’. It’s by no means a new argument, and while I always do my best to appreciate everyone’s perspective during such a discussion, there’s one thing I just can’t wrap my head around – the notion that a car has to be 100 per cent ‘street legal’ to be considered a street car.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the second you stick a pod filter on your otherwise-stock V6 VE Commodore, it is – to the absolute letter of the law – illegal. By that logic, if any car is modified in almost any way, it is then illegal, and thus cannot be considered a street car. Yeah, nah.

It was then put to me that people should get their cars engineered, and that I absolutely agree with. If built in consultation with an engineer – far better informed folk than your average highway patrol cop or EPA officer – your ride will almost certainly be more compliant and indeed safer than it would otherwise be. But as someone whose engineered vehicle was defected by a person who refused to so much as acknowledge that my certificate existed, I can assure you that it won’t guarantee you diplomatic immunity.

So by all means, make every effort to do the right thing. Get your car engineered, drive safely (especially in and around sanctioned cruises and events), and ensure you pass the attitude test if and when the police do engage you. As is often stated, they are not all jerks, and indeed some are genuine enthusiasts like you and me.

But don’t for a minute think, in the broader sense, that governments and their agencies are on our side. As I point out in the feature on Louis Younis’s mega-tough Torana (p. 32), modified car owners have been at odds with authority since the very dawn of our sport, so I’ll be buggered if I’ll allow them to determine what is and is not a street car.

So what do I think constitutes a street car? In a street/strip sense, the absolute pinnacle of the breed in Australia are six-second monsters like Frank Marchese’s XW and Daniel Szabolics’s HQ Monaro. I’m told that big Skyline GT-RS like JUN II and KING32 do legit street miles, so let’s throw them in the mix, too.

ANYONE WHO’S EXPERIENCED DRAG CHALLENGE WOULD AGREE THAT ANY CAR THAT COMES OUT THE OTHER SIDE OF IT IN ONE PIECE IS AS REAL AS THEY COME

But Frank and Dan’s cars specifically have completed (and finished first and third respectively in) Street Machine Drag Challenge, which I believe to be the ultimate, be-all and end-all proving ground for street cars in Australia. Anyone who’s experienced the event will attest that any car that comes out the other side of it in one piece is as real as they come.

It seems plenty of people agree with me too, because DC 2021’s 250 entries sold out in just six hours, and the 100-car waiting list filled up a short time later. It’s going to be a party, and you can catch all the details on page 12 of this issue.

Cheers,

Broads