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A pearl white Firebird GTA with a Buick-derived V6 and two turbochargers strapped to it is not the combination anyone expects to see running quarter-mile times that embarrass big-blocks. But Buick spent the 1980s proving that a boosted six could humiliate V8s, and this Firebird is what happens when someone takes that lesson to its logical extreme. Here is why the engine everyone dismissed keeps winning.
Ford built roughly 15,000 Fox body Mustangs specifically for police work, and almost nobody outside law enforcement knew they existed. Plain notchback bodies, upgraded cooling, reinforced floors and a certified speedometer made them ideal for chasing down interstate traffic. Decades later, drag racers figured out the same recipe works just as well at the strip, and one of them now runs nine-second passes with a naturally aspirated small block.
No-prep drag racing deliberately leaves the track surface untreated, which turns every run into a fight against a car’s own power rather than a clean launch. A modified 1955 Chevy Bel Air known as 55 2.0 has put together a six-race, six-win streak in that format while running only two of its three nitrous kits. Holding power in reserve on a surface designed to punish anyone who cannot manage grip is the interesting part.