For a while it’s been clear that drifters are the new hot rodders. But Ryan Tuerck’s new livery for the 2019 Formula Drift season takes it a step farther: What if drift cars were the modern 1970s street machines?
This kind of outlined look started out in the late 1950s, with Kustomrama tracing things directly back to the legendary SoCal painter Larry Watson and the 1958 Thunderbird he bought new and paneled. (He had his casket paneled, as Hemmings noted in its obit.)
The look kept going through the mid-60s on top builds, but you’d still see this sort of thing all the way through the Dazed and Confused era, at least going off of what gets posted on the great @70sstreetmachines on Instagram.
It’s nice seeing the throwback style, particularly on a car that has such raw performance. Tuerck’s 2JZ-swapped Toyobaru Twin is around 1,000 horsepower this year. Should be a ripper.