REMEMBER the good old days when pro street cars used to prowl the suburbs and haunt regular cruise hangouts? If you’re under 35, you probably don’t! Well, members of recently formed clubTuff Streeters Sydney CC had a vision to bring it all back, and decided to hold a last-minute cruise and informal meet-up at Sydney’s Torque Bar and Grill for their final event for 2013.

First published in the March 2014 issue of Street Machine

Located in the Fraser Harley-Davidson dealership where the freeway turns into Parramatta Rd, Torque Bar is in a great central location that is easy to get to from most ends of Sydney.

Despite the short notice, word spread quickly via social media and a good number of really tough cars arrived, from blown hot rods to tubbed Toranas, fast Falcons and stunning tri-five Chevys.

“It started off as a little Christmas get-together for the club to round out the year, but we decided to throw it open to the public,” said club president, Louis Younis.

“Theo from Torque Bar and Grill was on board straight away and within 24 hours we had sponsors and a flyer and away we went. By the time we arrived in the afternoon, the car park was already half full and before long it was packed. Not bad for a Tuesday night on the last working week of the year.”

Cars familiar to Street Machine readers included the blown and injected eight-second Anglia of Tony Younis (SM Hot Rod 12) and his son Louis’s insanely tough blown six-cylinder LC GTR Torana (SM, April 2012), the exquisite shoebox Chevs of Laurie and Wayne Grima, Damien ‘Chubby’ Lowe’s go-anywhere trophy-magnet VH Commodore (SM, May 2012) and David Sammut’s still-stunning HZ Statesman (SM, May 2007), along with a good spread of the toughest street cars in Sydney.

A DJ was spinning tracks in the car park, which, together with the American diner-style vibe of the venue, provided a killer atmosphere for roaming around, checking out the cars and chewing the fat with fellow enthusiasts.

Tuff Streeters CC is all about getting out and driving your car, so the night was as much about the journey as it was the destination.

Tuff Streeters CC is all about getting out and driving your car, so the night was as much about the journey as it was the destination.

“The best part of the night was driving there,” said Louis. “The looks on people’s faces when they saw the Anglia rolling down the M4 were just priceless.

“There was everything from balls-out drag cars to Top 10 show cars, and everything that was there on the night got driven there.”

The crew took up a collection and managed to raise almost $1000 for charity, with the eventual benefactor to be decided on at the next club meeting.

“It really couldn’t have gone any better in the time that we had to organise it,” Louis said.

“The club is only three months old and to get a full house at our first show and raise some money for charity at the same time is great.

“We’re just a bunch of mates who love having fun with tough street cars on Sydney’s streets. No bullshit, and no politics.”

1. Tony’s Anglia copped a fresh set of radials and had the parachute removed, and was then driven over 50km through peak hour traffic in full race trim – wheelie bars and all!

2. Danny Younis‘s tubbed Capri runs the 393ci Windsor that used to live in his dad’s Anglia. The boys are hoping it will see the mid-to-high-nines

3. Daniel ‘Gizmo’ Grima rolling five-up in his tough LS-powered 1955 Chev sedan

4. Fresh from running a string of mid-7-second eighth-mile passes at the Six Banger Nats, Louis replaced a busted axle and refitted the epic 20x16in billets to his Torry and was ready to cruise

5. The Sacilottos’ slick EH ute is powered by a blown V6 and was featured in SM, June 2008

6. Frank Micalleff’s FE, looking just as sharp as when we ran it back in SM, June ’98

7. Joe Chabaia’s ’28 tourer turned every head in the place on arrival and drew a crowd of admirers all night

8. Torque Bar is a great place for a cruise and holds regular rockabilly nights, attracting both tough cars and slick dancers.