Normally we never do a feature on a car until it at least has the engine under the hood, but Troy Coughlin’s outlaw Pro Mod Pontiac is so radical and outrageous that DRO suspended the rule and decided to show you in detail what we believe to be the ultimate “Pro Stock” style Pro Mod car.
This Pontiac GTO was built in the St. Louis factory of famed car builder Jerry Haas and it was one of the first to be designed and purpose-built by Haas for outlaw Pro Modified competition.
This side view of the GTO shows just how much the front windscreen is laid back as well as the extension to the nose and the noticeable bend of the rear window. To say this car is aerodynamic is an understatement.
Every corner of the car is rounded, tucked and smoothed. This photo dramatically shows how much the windshield is laid back. |
The IHRA made their rule to exclude Pro Stock-style bodies in Pro Mod competition after the end of the 2007 season before they saw this car or the one like it that Tommy Gray is having built also at the Haas shop. You can be sure that this Pontiac body was exactly what IHRA feared would be built when the rule was made. There is no 1967-68-69 Camaro, ‘57 Chevy, ‘41 Willys or ’53 or ‘63 ‘Vette body that is as aero as the body you see here.
This car is going to get a Sonny Leonard-built, twin-turbocharged, EFI by Meaney, big, big block for power stuffed under the hood. The engine combo has been on and off the dyno at Leonard’s Lynchburg, VA, shop and reportedly is ready to be installed. A twin-turbocharged, Sonny Leonard Mountain Motor could easily make 3500 hp, so you may be looking at the first turbocharged outlaw Pro Mod in the fives at 250 mph! And if Mr. Coughlin takes this car to the ADRL circuit as is rumored, this could be the first Pro Mod to go over 200 mph in the eighth mile.
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