00:00 What I'm looking for today is basically the Hot Wheels theme.
00:03 The outrageous, the exciting, the chrome, the big engine, the big wheels, the loud paint
00:09 jobs.
00:10 We're looking for the next great Hot Wheels car and I think we might find one here today,
00:19 guys.
00:25 Garage Spirit means when you got a problem and your friends come over and crack a couple
00:29 beers or sodas and get in there and wrench with you and you guys have stories.
00:33 It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about the vehicle as long as it's authentic
00:37 and real to that person, it's awesome.
00:40 I am excited to see who the winner is going to be today.
00:42 I'm excited to get that collector's Hot Wheel and I'm excited to hang out with my good friends
00:46 here in the car community.
00:54 My name is Brian Larkin, I'm from Bonterra, small town, and it's a Pro Mod '63 Corvette.
00:59 It's got a tube chassis underneath it, it's got a 708 Merlin motor in it, that's a 980
01:04 Whipple charger, that's the biggest Whipple charge you can get.
01:08 It creates 35 to 4,500 horsepower depending on the tune.
01:11 I mean every time I go down the track I get excited.
01:14 I guess the Hot Wheels is what's kept me going, inspired it, so that's what made me build
01:18 it.
01:19 I just wanted the big engine and the big wheels and all that stuff, so like I said, the '63
01:24 Corvette Hot Wheel is what made this.
01:33 My name is Dan DeGrasso and I built this monster truck.
01:37 It's a Dodge Military Power Wagon, 1946 style.
01:42 It's got 66/43/25 tires, it's got a 5 ton center section, the motor's Chrysler 392,
01:51 puts out about 1,000 horsepower.
01:53 This truck would actually run about 60 miles an hour down the road if you wanted to go
01:56 that fast.
01:58 Everything's custom on it, the shocks, the springs, it has traction bars in the back,
02:02 torque bars, and the front ones are bars to keep the front end from kicking out when you
02:06 pull.
02:07 It'd be a neat Hot Wheels.
02:15 My name is Mr. Moak and my car is a 1953 Ford two-door coupe called Desperado, and it took
02:24 me about three years to bring it out with all the custom work.
02:29 I'm running a 289 high performance Mustang engine with a C4 transmission and a Maverick
02:35 rear end.
02:36 The windows are all fully etched, every one of them.
02:41 It's a crowd pleaser and when you're going down the highway, it's a thumber up.
02:44 It would be a totally awesome thing to have a Hot Wheel made out of it.
02:49 I'm Tina Reeves and my husband, Butch Reeves, this is our '59 Buick Wildcat.
02:54 All the front four-inch drop tube axle and the frame, all custom made, he did that.
03:00 There's a 600 Holley carburetor on it and I got some tiki mask in there, there's lights
03:04 behind them.
03:05 I guess it's an attention getter and to the best of my knowledge, one of a kind in St.
03:09 Louis.
03:10 I like it.
03:16 So guys, what do you guys think about the cars we saw today?
03:19 Everything is bespoke, everything is unique, everything is just crazy special and I love
03:22 it.
03:23 We got to meet a lot of really cool people and everyone had a very unique story about
03:28 their cars.
03:29 It was very hard to choose.
03:30 It was hard to choose, but I think one of the ones we really enjoyed, I think everybody
03:33 enjoyed was the '32 Ford Speedster.
03:36 That thing is just, it's beautiful.
03:38 It just rolled off the lot in 1932, so 80-something years old and looks brand new.
03:43 Big fan of the Vega, Brian Burnham's Vega.
03:46 No one ever does anything that cool with a Vega.
03:48 It's very rare and I love that because the Vega to me is very cool cars.
03:52 Great rally car.
03:53 They drive it too.
03:54 Yeah, he drives it, he tracks the car.
03:55 It's a wonderful thing.
03:57 All right guys, well I think we found our winner.
04:11 Thank you everyone for coming out on this nice beautiful day.
04:14 Thank you for the great hospitality here at Walmart.
04:16 We have our sponsors Mobile One over here, Mechanics Gloves and Dickie's Shirts.
04:21 So this is the final, this is it.
04:24 For the chance to go to SEMA, we decided on Byron Burnham's Vega.
04:29 Is Byron here?
04:30 My name is Byron Burnham.
04:33 This is my IMSA-inspired Vega.
04:35 I call it the Vega RCR.
04:36 It's pretty much a belly pan, smooth bottom car.
04:39 The engine is an LS3, hill-borne injection that has been moved down two inches, moved
04:45 over three quarters.
04:46 Art Morrison back half, which is a nine-inch three-link with Watts fuel cell is a GTR '66
04:52 Mustang racing fuel cell.
04:53 I kept it somewhat stock, but yet full function for safety.
04:56 I've got a full cage.
04:57 I've got a fire suppressant system.
04:59 The brake bias is right there by the shifter.
05:01 Most of my era, they know the Vega.
05:05 And they always said that this is one of the best looking Vegas they've ever seen.
05:08 It's just kind of neat to see people's reactions.
05:10 It's always been really good.
05:12 I have not had any negative comments about the car.
05:14 All right guys, we had a great time today.
05:16 We crowned the winner.
05:17 When you get a chance, register for Hot Wheels in your city.
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