Meet Joe Barry’s ’56 Chevy That Runs 6 Second Quarter Mile Times, At Over 200 MPH!

There are two basic approaches to attacking drag week: build an all-out drag car that is just streetable enough to make the drive between tracks and build a street car that is fast enough to compete with the drag cars. Joe Barry basically split the difference and built a car that almost flawlessly bridges the gap between all-out race car and wicked street car, and wrapped it in a beautiful package to boot.

Joe’s 1956 Chevy is known as The Creamsicle thanks to is iconic orange and white paint combination, and has been a regular on Hot Rod’s Drag Week for nearly a decade now. When the car is in Drag Week trim, it’s powered by an intercooled twin turbo combination that cranks out enough power to push the 3,700-pound behemoth to 6.8 second quarter mile times at 210+ MPH.

When he made the trip to Hoonigan’s headquarters for this episode of Build Biology, however, the car had a less-radical naturally aspirated engine between the frame rails for off-season duty. While the carbureted engine may be down on power compared to the twin turbo powerplant, it still made 1150 horsepower, enough to push the car deep into the 9-second zone in the quarter.

Inside, the car retains much of the factory feel, although a good bit of the decor has been airbrushed onto an aftermarket dash that’s more practical for the intended use of the ’56. The interior is still much more plush than most drag cars, while still having all the components necessary to lay down six-second quarter mile ET’s.

Underneath, you can see the car is built for sstraight-lineperformance, since all turns will be taken at highway speeds or lower. Barry reveals that the chassis is actually a Pro Mod chassis, but looking at the car from the outside, there is no way to know what exactly lies underneath this gorgeous shoebox hotrod!