Homebuilt Muscle

1977 Chevy Monza Spyder
Jim Mastalerz, Niles, IL
Best E.T.: 12.90/105
The year was 1977, and Jim Mastalerz had just graduated high school and was working in the service department of his local Chevy dealer. He and his brother John had been cruising the used car lots looking for good deals on muscle cars to hot rods. After countless trips, they came to the conclusion that rust, dents, and repairs would be the norm, so they decided to use Jim's job to their advantage to special order new cars. That way there would be no repairs to steal time and money from their speed parts budgets.

While his brother opted for a '77 Camaro LT, Jim optioned out a Monza Spyder with the Z01 Spyder equipment, but without the appearance package. They both bided their time until the warranties ran out, then immediately started ripping off parts to bump up the performance. Intakes, headers, ignition, cam, geardrive-they gathered all the right bolt-ons for muscle car street cred. "The look on our father's face when he saw us taking off brand-new parts and throwing them in the garbage said 'You boys are crazy,' " Jim told us. Sure, the mods seem mild by today's standards, but back then they were hot Chevys, and it wasn't long before Jim and John were terrorizing the streets on the Northwest side of Chicago and hanging out at Great Lakes Dragaway.