PHR's Third Annual Photo Contest - Hometown Heroes

Ted Baltuch of Westmount, Quebec, Canada, had different aspirations for this car than most builders. He didn't build it to race, he didn't build it to show, he built it to drive. Every choice he made would ultimately be to make the car a better driver. He built up the factory 455 to 466 inches to flaunt effortless power from idle to 5,000 rpm. To a racer, that's a low rpm to be confined to, but for a street Buick, it's just right. The interior follows the same street theme, with freshly fluffed and re-covered bucket seats. The gauges are all factory, the only difference being that every single one of the gauges and lights work. The center of the dash houses the factory 8-track player. To keep sanity, Ted also installed a 6-disc CD changer that operates though an FM frequency so not to harass the dash too much. Ted included pictures of another GS at Napierville's NHRA Raceway, where it consistently annihilated a Hemi car, proving to him once and for all that Buicks are faster. He ended his statement with, "Wouldn't you rather have a Buick?"

Jerry Alber is the fresh new owner of this race-ready '72 Vega. He purchased it from Craig Beckwith at a car show in Watervliet, Missouri. Craig had it for about a year, and was the one to enter it into our photo contest. Since the handoff, current owner Jerry has decorated it with Yenko GT decals to give it an authentic race vibe. Like anyone else who buys a new car, they spend the first couple of nights cleaning and buffing every part to reveal their maximum luster. Jerry was proud to breathe new life into the polished aluminum Draglites and trim. He has big plans for his new toy, including updated suspension to match the work that has been done in the rear. He still doesn't know every bolt of this car yet, so we're sure more things will be changed down the road. When we called him he was at the dragstrip, but without the pink slip back from the DMV, he is waiting to collect his first timeslip. Good luck, Jerry!