There's no such thing as a 7 second "Street" machine....

I get sick of magazines talking about their "Real Street" heroes and "World's Fastest Street Cars"- that run the 1/4 in 7 seconds. I'm sorry guys-that's not a street car, it's a race car. What else would you call a car with an 8 or 10 point roll cage,rolling on 29 inch slicks, powered by a 12:1 compression 500 inch, 600+ hp engine backed by an automatic with a 5000 rpm converter and a trans-brake?  Mom's grocery-getter?  Yes, I know anything is drivable depending on what the driver is willing to tolerate-but let's be reasonable. A lot of people have hot rods that aren't daily drivers. I understand that. But a street machine should be something you could take on a 200 mile trip if you had to. Larry Larson's 7 second Nova that was featured in Hot Rod? Sure-you can drive it around the block. But any farther- even with 4.56:1 gears-your 60 mph cruise rpm is going to be less than your torque converter's stall speed. How far toward soccer practice can mom go before she burns up the tranny? "Be careful climbing over the roll cage, honey, and don't step on the nitrous bottle." Most states require any car built after 1975 to have some kind of smog and safety inspection which includes checking for equipment like catalytic converters, EGR valves, AIR pumps, etc. Pray tell-how does one get a 572 inch 720 hp '86 Monte Carlo SS legally registered?  Even if you go old school-i.e. a '68 Chevelle-it's still an undrivable beast. Call me a candy-ass if you want-but most strips require anything that runs the 1/4 faster than 11.50 to have an 8-point roll cage. And the motor buzzing at 4,000 rpm on the freeway and paying seven bucks a gallon for race gas while getting 5-8 mpg gets old real quick. And those big,fat slicks or drag radials are awesome in the rain. These people are pleading a losing case. A new Mustang GT cost 32 grand and runs 12 second 1/4's off the showroom floor with A/C, CD player, cruise control etc. A Camaro SS and a Dodge Challenger R/T cost a little more, but offer the same performance and luxury. And if you step up to the ZL1 or the GT500 or the Hellcat-you get a blower with 580-707 hp!! These cars will idle all day in traffic with the A/C on and still rip off an 11 second 1/4 mile blast on street tires!!  If were being honest-if you really NEED to go faster than that-then you need a Pro Stock drag car, a competent therapist,or a cage. I like old-school musclecars too. But honestly-if I buy a '70's Firebird with a 400 and put the Edelbrock Performer RPM package on it-it will make 422 hp and 441 lbs of torque-on a 400-if I use a 455 those numbers will jump by about 40 each. If I've got a good posi and gears between 3.23:1 and 3.73:1 that will easily put me in the high 12s. A shot of nitrous will put me in the 11s easily, and the car will be dead reliable and except for getting 10 mpg I could drive it from California to New York in relative comfort. Try that in one of the 7 second "Street" cars that are featured in all the magazines. That's all I'm saying. Build a fire-breathing monster if you want-but don't call it a street machine. A stripped down P-51 race plane is an airplane, but no one calls them "Commuter" planes!!  Mastermind