The final word on what is and isn't a "Street Machine"

It seems every enthusiast magazine on the market has irritating articles about 7, 8 or 9 second street machines. A car that has an 8 or 10 point roll cage, a safety fuel cell, is powered by a 12:1 compression, 500 ci , 650 hp engine + the 300 hp nitrous system, backed up by an automatic with a 4,800 rpm stall converter and a trans-brake that does over 140 mph in 7 seconds is a race car. Period. End of story. It must irritate you too. At these "Real Street" Eliminator events, how many of these cars arrive on Trailers? There not street machines, their race cars with liscence plates.  Here's why- # 1-Most states require any vehicle built after 1978 to have some kind of smog and or safety inspeciton which includes checking for equipment like catalytic converters, EGR valves, etc. How does one get a 572 inch, 720 hp 1986 Monte Carlo SS legally registered?  # 2. Even if you go old school-i.e. a '68 Road Runner-even with 4.56:1 gears you need to cut those blistering times, your 60 mph cruise rpm is going to be well below your 4,500 rpm race converters stall speed.  If these cars are streetable-just how far toward soccer practice can mom go before she burns up the tranny?  # 3. There not daily drivers, I get that. Neither is my 442 or my brother's GTO. But we can drive those cars pretty comfortably to the mall or on a 200 mile trip. In Larry Larson's 7 second drag week champion Nova? Clambering around the roll cage has to get old every time you get in or out of the car. And "Don't step on the nitrous bottle, honey, daddy'll get you to school on time!"   I've had this argument with the editor of Hot Rod.  Yes, anything is DRIVABLE, depending on what the driver is willing to tolerate. I've said it before-a friend had a Cobra replica with a blown big-block in it. It ran something like 9.80 in the 1/4 on it's first pass. But-you had to crane your neck to the left to see around the blower to drive, it overheated if it idled for more than a minute, driver's and passengers alike banged their head on the rollbar and burned their legs on the sidepipes,it had no top, no power steering, no power brakes, and about every 5th run it would spit a half-shaft out the Jag rear end and have to be towed home. Not a pleasant driving experience, away from the strip. Since a new Mustang GT or SS Camaro can run 12s off the showroom floor and with a little work or a shot of nitrous even hit the low 11s or high 10s, I'm not going to categorize so much by 1/4 mile times as by drivability. Here's the guidelines to what isn't streetable:  If you can't enter or exit a high-school parking lot or negotiate a shopping center speed bump without breaking the exhaust system or smashing the oil pan, it's not a street machine. If you can't drive the car 30 miles without burning up the tranny or overheating the engine, it's not a street machine. If you can't SEE around your induction system or hood scoop, then it's not a street machine. If you can't drive it up a curvy road at 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit in the rain, then it's not a street machine. These are all things that any 30 year old Honda Civic could do with a teenage driver. If your car can't do those, it's not a street machine. If you think of motorcycles- The guys at Orange County Choppers on TV don't try to say their bikes are "Touring" models. Robbie Kneival doesn't describe his jump bike as a "Sport Bike".  Thanks, I just had to vent that. Mastermind