70s Street Freak

[kurth]

I have been trying to research "Street Freaks" from the 70s. I can not find that much info, but from what I can find they look pretty cool. I was born in '75 so I really do not remember seeing cars like that on the road. Actually in my area .. northern VA I never really saw a lot of modded cars. When I was 5 or 6 I could identify any car on the road, and by the time I was old enough to buy my own Hot Rod magazines in the mid 80s it was the age of monochrome and pastel colored cars with a different look, and later on Pro-Street

My question is, does the front end have to be raised up to be considered a Street Freak?

The common denominator seems to be a 60s or 70s car with a wild forced induction system, Big rear tires, Cragars, Daisy wheels, or Centerlines, and Flames or Yellow/Orange Grpahics, or almost lowrider-esqe panel graphics.

What generally happens to a customized car once the trend is no longer fashionable? Do people generally try to turn it into something else? or are there garages full of Pro-street, pastel colored hot rods just waiting for it to be cool again? What will happen to all the pro touring cars people built? Where do all the out of style wheels end up? What happened to all those Billet wheels from the 80s and 90s ?

Would the The good old Monogram Camaro z/28 be a street freak right out of the box? (yeah I know the kit has issues but it is just plain fun to build)

[Joe Handley]

I think a lot of the kits that represent 50's through late 70's American cars and trucks..........probably have to go on a few chemically induced trips to come up with some of the ideas though. Look at vintage pics and just try to go as far over the top as you can possibly go!

[Jantrix]

Your best bet is finding 70's magazines I think or just check out the box art for Revells Hot Rod series.

[Junkman]

Streat Freaks are road legal Gassers.

Any car can be made into a Street Freak. There is no limit, neither in selection, nor imagination.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Junkman

[1972coronet]

Many of those cars --those which survived the ravages of time and the elements-- became too valuable to collectors in the 80's . Then , those more "common" cars ( 340 Darts / Dusters ; 383 Super Bee / Road Runner ; 350 Nova ; 396 Chevelle ; etc. , etc. ) were then preyed-upon and turned into *shudder* Pro Street *shudder* and other grotesque customs .

Now even -those- cars are too valuable these days !

Thank God the billet craze is over for the most part . Those ugly Boyd's wheels belong only in the recycling bin along with "blade" wheels (think : Monogram's 1970 Buick GSX custom) .

The 80's was a horrible time in the custom realm . Monochrome, blacked-out brightwork , ugly wheels and gross paintjobs belong in the history books and not in the 1:1 realm !

Now , 70's Street Freaks were *typically* retired Gassers (more so out here in the west) , retired Super Stock , F/X , etc. , or other dirt cheap 5-15 year old vehicles (remember that the 21st Octobre 1973 OPEC stunt scared the hell out of people ; and rising gas prices combined with ever-falling octane ratings --vis-a-vis removal of tetraethyl lead-- , only furthered the desire for people to offload their fuel-thirsty Muscle Cars).

These cars were modified as no one would ever imagine that they'd become collectable .

I grew up in the 70's and 80's ( I was born in 1970 ) , and was living a stone's throw away from the Whittier Boulevard scene , so I vividly remember seeing these Freaks on a daily basis .

[Fat Brian]

Keep in mind that for a street freak you aren't constrained by NHRA rules, I don't think any of the cars pictured would be legal even in a gasser class because the front ends are too high. The NHRA rulebook limited cars to a height of 24 inches at the centerline of the crankshaft but for a street car get the nose high and rear down and go crazy.

[mini trucker]

I know a guy who has had a 1:1 full show street freak 460 powered Pinto hatch mothballed since the late 70s so there are deff some survivors out there. This one was all for show, crazy paneled paint and tons of chrome and a sky high straight axled front end, a really neat-o lookin old show car.

[Craig Irwin]

The whole Street Freak thing was about cars that were "over the top". We were trying to copy the drag racers so the guys wanted that gasser look. Straight axles, blowers, drag shutes, you name it. A friend of mine actualy ran Hilborn injection on his 65 'Vette big block, what a nightmare that was! The whole Pro Street thing was the next phase, trying to look like the Pro Stock cars.

[Mercman]

Here's a model of what my 56 Chevy looked like back in 73. Rather wild 327 under the hood.

[Craig Irwin]

Just re-read the orignal post, to answer one question, Pauls 65 'Vette with the Hilborn stacks was not rased in the front, and was somewhat lowered. But it did have 6 tail lights!

[darquewanderer]

Kurth, there was only one Street Freak in Northern Virginia in the late '60s and early '70s that I knew of. A bright yellow 1964 Chevy II called "Wild Child" jacked up on all fours, running street legal skinnies on the front and barely legal cheaters on the rear. You could find the car parked in the Edison HS student parking lot during the day.

I do know he took out a stop sign on Glebe Rd one day, but don't know what eventually happened to the car.

[Draggon]

Here are some pics from the H.A.M.B. and a link to the thread. And yes the Nomad was street driven.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155130

[gray07]

Look for the magazines that is called street freaks, i think thats the name i will look, and by the way not all of them had straight axles under the front, i was born in the 60s , and my 71 nova i had, had the airshocks all the way up, with the big tires, chromed out engine, i loved those cars, never was into pro street. As for the old pro street cars, look under indiana craigslist theres a few of them that there trying to get rid of and cant and there cheap.