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RICH CONKLIN'S STREET FREAK
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Street Freak. That's what they called 'em back in the 70's, and I remember reading about the "fad" in the old Hot Rod books while sitting in the school library. It seems that lately the term "gasser" is also used to describe cars like this, but I don't remember gassers being this high up in the air. Even cars like the "High and Mighty" didn't sit up like this car. The stance was derived from the drag cars that set the front end up high to transfer weight to the rear tires, to get traction. However, some cars, in an effort to emulate this look, kept going even higher!
Rich Conklin, owner of Radir Wheels in Montville, New Jersey, was a product of that fad back in the early 70's. Rich had his heart set on a certain '55 Chevy two-door sedan that sat under a tree near his family's farm. Try as he might, the owner of the Chevy wouldn't sell it, but Rich persisted for years until the owner caved in and sold it to Rich in 1974. The car wasn't running the day he flat-towed it home, but Rich had it running and driving later that day. He washed it up and drove it around the farm for a couple of days, then pulled it into the barn and tore it apart...
Read the rest of this article in ISSUE 10: FAMOSO SPEED SHOP GASSER
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