SKid Row may have dined on a stretch of Smyrna’s real estate long known as Tuff Street, but it’s the fact that now the unrelenting sound and wind of the eights bending over your senses. Filled with burning smoke, it seems appropriate.
After all, Tough Street is where you want to find the toughest mechanical monsters in Street Machine Summernauts. These cars push and actually exceed the limits of what can be done with a street car, which is why judging is divided into three classes: Street Tough, for street-registered cars with mini-tubs. can be Pro Tough, for tougher Pro Street style cars with full tubs; and Comp Tough, for dedicated race cars.
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Tough street cars are not judged on their interiors and undercarriages like their elite brethren, as there is an understanding that they are built and used for a specific purpose. As Tough Street judge and past winner Mark Hayes said, “They could have a full Nick Scully entrance and it wouldn’t matter.”
Among the cars that were on the judges’ radar at Summants 35 was James Swollers’ new, ultra-tough, blown methanol Hemi-powered GONUTS VY ute. Matt Bell’s Tuff Street-staple FAT G Monaro; BYE Performance’s blown and tubbed LS-swapped BMW 328i, refined (Sm, June ’22); and Jack Myers’ iconic Mustang, to name but a few.
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However, in ascending order of toughness, class winners in Tough Street this year were Nick Knight’s HQ sedan in Street Tough, Frank Russo’s 100 percent street-legal tubbed and big-blocked VC Commodore SL/E in Pro Tough, and George Soterowski were Deeply mind-blown and injected LX hatch in CompTuff.
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And the overall winner? He was Frank’s VC Cuomo. “It was overwhelming, to be honest,” Frank said. “I wasn’t expecting to win the gold trophy. The car is all engineered and registered. You have to fix it, I understand.”
We think Frank got it right, and so did the Tough Street judges.
The highlights
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Matty Bell’s FAT G HG Monaro was to be one of the straightest cars at Smyrnatus. The blown-and-injected Fatty has a note of its own, and Matt wasn’t afraid to take it out of the marquee and spin some hard laps at the height of Saturday afternoon’s mayhem, much to the delight of the crowd.
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The smiling face of the Tough Street Champion. Frank Russo’s mega-tough, big-block-powered Pro Street VC Como caught our eye enough when we saw it at the Adelaide Auto Expo, so we featured it in the December 2021 issue of Street Machine. The clinically clean engine bay, thumping 454ci engine and incredible tinwork are all impressive, but perhaps the car’s best feature is that it’s fully engineered and street legal in Frank’s home state of South Australia.
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George Sotirowski’s epic LX Torana hatch is the absolute epitome of comp tough class in tough street. The A9X-style weapon looks just plain awesome, with a factory-style bonnet scoop firing and injecting mill bursts and a knockout stance due to flares. Barbados Green is also a winning color choice.
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Remember Ben Bray’s purpose-built VY burnout ute? It’s been under the tutelage of James Swollers for a while now, and after a tussle with the wall at Power Cruise a few years back, James has treated it to a big old birthday. The 520ci Hemi runs a BDS 14/71 pump, topped with a CHI carbon hat and pulley to deliver 1800hp at 40psi. The color is Porsche Miami Blue, and it rolls on 24x15in Simmons wheels with a monumental 12in dish!