You had me at the grille. When the photos for this feature landed on my computer screen, I saw that custom grille and instantly knew the car: Howard Nessen’s XB hardtop. The grille alone symbolises how to create an iconic street machine that will be recognised for decades to come.
How young was I when I first saw it? I had nary a sprout of pubic hair as I BMX’d home with the new Feb/Mar ’84 issue of Street Machine. Among a brace of ’55 and ’56 Chevs highlighted that issue, I spied a feature on a tidy Red Pepper XB hardtop with the headline ‘Key to the Car’, complete with that trademark grille.
“This is actually the fourth time the XB has been featured in Street Machine,” the now 61-year-old Howard says. “It was also featured in Jul/Aug ’91 and Jul/Aug ’95 – and was a SMOTY nominee for ’95 – so surely this is a record or something!”
The XB left the factory as a well-optioned GS Fairmont running 302 Clevo power when bought brand new by Howard’s dad, Ben, in 1974, and was given to Howard as a 21st birthday present five years later. It was a mint car with only 30,000 miles on the clock, but Howard immediately stripped it down for a full respray in the factory Red Pepper hue. Shane Cable hotted up the 302 with a 650 Holley, extractors and Sig Erson cam, and swapped out the C4 for a Top Loader cogger.
A nine-inch conversion was an immediate improvement over the factory BorgWarner for strength, while 4.11 gears kept Howard busy with the newly acquired manual shifts. A mix of lowered front coils and raised rear wagon springs gave it the right 1980s rake, and a set of Auto Drag-style Enkei rims sorted its street cred. It was a quick streeter for those days, with a 14.4-second ET at Calder to its name, but it wasn’t long before Howard wanted more.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2020-Ausgabe von Street Machine Magazine.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der June 2020-Ausgabe von Street Machine Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
ANIKA HODGES
THE CAR DROVE INTO OUR SHED AS A CREAM 202CI VC AND DROVE OUT AS A SILVER CAR WITH A 355 V8
STAGE FRIGHT
IT TOOK OWEN SCOTT MORE THAN 20 YEARS TO BUILD A TROPHY-WINING, 600HP EH HOLDEN UTE THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
THE Ummmal SUSPECT
FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT MINI-TRUCKS. THIS SUMMERNATS TOP 60 HILUX IS A PROPER STREET MACHINE
FULLY UTILISED
HARDWOOD ROD & CUSTOM TURNS DARREN ISON'S HAND-ME-DOWN HT INTO A SMOOTH OPERATOR
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
ARBY’S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIS VG VALIANT’S 60-FOOT TIMES YIELD PROMISING RESULTS IN THE RUN-UP TO STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE
PEOPLE POWER
WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT 36 YEARS OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS - AND MOST DEMOCRATICALLY AWARDED - HONOUR IN OUR SPORT: STREET MACHINE OF THE YEAR
OUT-AND-OUT MAYHEM
STREET MACHINE DRAG CHALLENGE IS ALREADY A ROLLICKING GOOD TIME, BUT WHAT CAR EVENT CAN'T BE MADE EVEN BETTER BY ADDING A BURNOUT COMP? INTRODUCING OUR INAUGURAL RODS OUT!
BAD TO THE BONE
THANKS TO HIS SON, ANDY, THE LATE MARIO COLALILLO’S 39 PLYMOUTH COUPE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AND STILL ONE OF THE BADDEST HOT RODS IN THE COUNTRY
THE CHALLENGE IS REAL
FROM TRACK DRAMAS TO SOARING TEMPERATURES, DRAG CHALLENGE 2024 THREW US SOME OF ITS TOUGHEST TESTS YET, BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT SOME OF THE QUICKEST TIMES THE EVENT HAS EVER SEEN
