Ethan Lawrence's '67 Satellite was equally at home on the road and the dragstrip. The paint and finish of this car were nothing less than stunning, and running mid-12s in the quarter was enough to give Ethan the win.
'67 Plymouth SatelliteLike most projects, this Satellite was in poor shape when Ethan acquired it. Years of street use and then racing had taken their toll on the B-body, but the car's foundation was sound, and he loved the squared-off lines of the Plymouth. Having more time than money and enjoying mechanical work, Ethan built this car himself, in his garage, over a period of five years. The front suspension was rebuilt with new bushings and A-body disc brakes, while the rear was changed to a coilover/ladder bar setup for hard launches. Mini-tubs were also added to accommodate the 30x13.5-inch rear tires.
Ethan's grandfather loved to build custom cars and assisted in the body and paint work, teaching Ethan how to get panels super straight as they shared valuable time together working on the project. This Viper red Plymouth was the last car Ethan's grandfather would help with before his death, making the project even more valuable to Ethan.
When it came to the engine, Ethan decided to build it himself. Starting with a factory 440 block, internals from Eagle and JE were added, and displacement was increased to 493 ci. A Comp Cams .590 lift roller cam was utilized in conjunction with a set of fully ported 906 casting cylinder heads topped with Comp roller rockers. An Edelbrock Victor intake and Demon 1,000-cfm carburetor handled the fuel/air mixing. Behind the engine, the TorqueFlite was freshened and loaded with new internals, including a Cheetah manual valvebody and TCI 3,800-rpm stall converter. Out back, a stout Dana with a Sure-Grip transfers the power to the pavement. This combination was good for some solid mid-12-second passes at Vegas, enough to win this year's True Street Challenge. Congratulations, Ethan.
Although an ignition timing issue only allowed some 28 degrees of total advance, this Satellite still managed some very respectable mid-12-second passes. | 
The engine bay of this Plymouth shows the same attention to detail that is highlighted throughout the car. At nearly 500 ci, this big-block has power to spare. | 
What does Ethan like most about his Satellite? Driving it, of course. |
Placing a close second in this year's challenge is Terry Antosko's '70 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda clone. Don't let the factory look fool you, this car is fast!
Everyone knows AAR 'Cudas came with small-block engines, right? A closer look at Terry's clone will reveal some 693 inches of elephant power under the hood!
'70 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda CloneLiving in the town of Grande Prairie, in Canada's Alberta province, gives Terry Antosko plenty of time during the long winters to work on his cars. When building this 'Cuda, he had a theme in mind. Loving the look of the AAR 'Cuda, he wanted to make this car appear as a factory AAR, but with a twist. The twist was the addition of a 693ci Hemi engine. Terry found the car some 10 years ago in a field and scored a deal by telling the previous owner he wouldn't cut the car up and make it a race car. And he stuck to his deal, pretty much. The suspension of this car remains fairly stock with the addition of aftermarket disc brakes and Cal-Trac bars. The 831/44 rearend contains 3.90 gears and a Sure-Grip differential; the freshened TorqueFlite houses a 10-inch, 3,800-rpm stall converter and reverse manual valvebody shifted by the factory column shifter. Aftermarket gauges and a rollbar are the only deviations from a factory interior.
While Terry's car is stock appearing, the engine is anything but stock. With a goal of running deep in the 9s in the quarter on pump gas, he started with a 4.510 bore Indy block, stuffing it with a Bryant steel crankshaft with a stroke of 4.96 inches. Groden aluminum rods were matched with CP pistons for a somewhat pump-gas friendly 12.25:1 compression ratio. Mopar aluminum heads were ported and polished, then topped with an Indy intake and 1050-cfm Holley Dominator carburetor. The combination was good for 948 hp and 877 lb-ft of torque on the engine dyno. this car ran a string of mid-10-second passes while in Vegas, making it the quickest entry in our challenge. We congratulate Terry on a very close second place finish in this year's True Street Challenge.
This AAR clone could definitely fool the untrained eye. The only deviations from a stock interior are the Auto meter gauges and rollbar. Terry even uses the factory column shifter to run the TorqueFlite through the gears. | 
After a quick wiring repair, Terry clicked off a series of 10-second elapsed times, netting him a close second place finish in this year's True Street Challenge. | 
A short in the fuel-pump wiring forced Terry to abort his first pass. after a quick repair, though, he clicked off a series of mid-10-second elapsed times. |