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Nontraditional Muscle

Nothing makes me smile more when I pull up to a garage full of muscle cars, all of them wearing big fat cheater slicks. A quick glance around Christina’s garage you know this is a sanctuary dedicated to horsepower and classic American muscle. Let’s identify the elephant in the room, Christina is a woman in a hobby dominated by men, and while she wants to be known as a racer and elite car builder, she has put herself in a position that make many men jealous. As Christina put it, “I’m not trying to be a Tomboy and a girly girl, Im just trying to enjoy different things.” While this podcast and article is not about a woman in a mans world, it is about a unique individual that doesn’t fit the mold of traditional society.

Christina grew up with two older brothers both of which were into cars and while her dad wasn’t into hot rodding, he was into fixing up cheap used cars for his daily transportation. He was so into fixing these cars that, unbeknown to Christina as a kid, her mother named a car Jezebel as it was the woman who took time away from her husband. Her aforementioned brother has owned some drag cars, a 98 Camaro that she watched him build and race and a car we cannot talk about on the podcast. Let’s just say its iconic in the racing scene and very very fast. She really got into cars as an adult when she was making enough money to go out and buy her own vehicles and customize them the way she wanted. Christina has always been into classic American muscle cars and doesn’t know why but the allure of the shapes and sounds of the era really attracted her. Christina is passionate about Chevelles, literally any year, and originally wanted one as her first muscle car. At 22 she was on the hunt for a 70 Chevelle however while looking at one she fell in love with a black 71 Chevy Nova SS. Once she took it for a test drive she knew the car had found her instead of the other way around.

The Nova is the car that really got Christina to dive deep into the hobby by getting her hands dirty and understanding the cars mechanically. When she originally purchased the 1971 Chevy Nova SS she just wanted a cool street cruiser with no plans of track use. The car came advertised as a true Nova SS, with everything original except for the motor. Its was powered by a 350 mated to a Muncy four speed. However that didn’t last long. Within a few months she had replaced the stock 350 with a high compression 350 with a big cam mated to a TH350 tansmission for quicker shifts, wait for it, at the track. While she does miss the four speed the drivability and quick shifting has won out. The engine is managed by a Holley Sniper EFI system with a big fuel pump to keep the motor happy at the track. The mechanical performance has been upgraded and wants to keep the car as original as possible meaning no mini tubs, no cage and no racing seats.

She does want to go fast but not at the expense of cutting up an extremely nice Nova. The interior is stock with a bench seat with a few additional gauges and a handheld for the Sniper EFI system. Christina is running the largest tire possible in the back without cutting up the car. Sized at 275/60 15 stuffed way under the quarters wrapped around a 15x8 wheel. The exterior is stock minus the large cowl hood and if you’ve been following her on Instagram you’ll know the primer hood has always been questioned. Will she finally paint it…you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out! The car as it currently sits is absolutely beautiful she does have plans to upgrade to a new motor and possibly putting the four speed back in. Why would she go back to stock? Because while racing the car she knew she wanted to go faster which meant cutting up the Nova and making it more safe. However, as nice as the car is she knew cutting it up wasn’t an option and decided to start looking for a dedicated race car.

Enter in the 1986 Olds Cutlass that caught my attention as soon as I pulled into the driveway. Like many of us who have an affinity for G-bodies we have quite the selection to choose from. Similar to the Chevelle/Nova purchase, Christina was really looking for Regals or Malibu and happen to run across a Cutlass. She originally thought they were kind of ugly but after a quick search on Google of finished drag spec Cutlass’ she fell in love. “On the ground, big tire, nice paint, cowl hood…alright I have to get one of those,” is how she explains it. She knew from the beginning that the car was going to be cut up so originality or mileage wasn’t and issue. Christina did not want something already built as a drag car as she wanted to be the one to do all the work and know the car inside and out, not to mention have to fix the previous owners short comings. She found her car from a guy who was daily driving an 86 Cutlass that was completely bone stock. Painted in dark grey Christina did not like it so she went out and bought a sander with the intention of sanding and priming the car. Like many of us, once the layers started being peeled back she quickly found it was an original blue car that had been repainted with an original vinyl top taken off. If you own an original vinyl top car you know these are prone to rust and Christina’s was no different. Unfortunately the problem was so bad it rusted out the passenger side floorpan which is no big deal as this will be strictly track run after she patches the rust. The car is currently gutted and being prepped for racing next year.

The donor motor for the car is coming from a 2000 Chevy Silverado in the form of a 5.3 LS that already has a cam. This motor is just a placeholder and “test fit,” so that the car can be wired and prepped for a 6.0L LS mated to a 4L80. Shooting for 1000hp from a turbo set up Christina would like to see the car go low 9’s. The cage that has already been installed is certified for 8.50 so it is setup to go even faster than that.

What does a street rod/drag racer like to use from day to day? Well similar to me Christina likes cars that are unique and dailies a Trailblazer SS. Stock they come with and LS2 however her truck has been swapped to an LQ9. She’s owned the truck for about 3 years and has done a few upgrades…none of which are big cheater slicks. This is a working truck, as Christina put it, “I wanted something I could tow with but nothing too big because I work in the city and I would have to parallel park it.” The two other requirements were, “rear wheel drive,” and shocker, “black.” The TBSS fills all these requirements and is a truck you don’t see a whole lot of running around the streets.

The way I found Christina was via instagram and has been a big resource for Christina not only building her Nova but networking with like minded people. When she started her page she wanted to be known for the car and not as a woman in the hobby. Her instagram name is @bsxnova and if you’re wondering what that stands for, well it stands for a couple of things. Christina explains, “Bench seat x body Nova, bull shit with the x as a place holder. There was really no meaning other than something that captured the car.” When she started the page she didn’t realize that she would blow up on the internet. She doesn’t want to be an influencer but rather started it to just show off the car and her work. For Christina, instagram has never been about, “being in a bikini or bending over a car, its more about female empowerment.” She then started meeting some cool people and realizing there were other women on the platform that were not only drag racing but making a good living at it. This is what the podcast is all about, whether you’re a male or female, if you’re a savage in the hobby I want to talk to you. Christina’s online presence comes from an authentic place and it really shows through her posts and my discussion with her on the podcast. She explains that there is a clear difference between people posting for likes and people posting for the fun and love of the hobby. Christina says, “its such a fine line,” as you try to navigate between being authentic while still promoting products that you believe in and actually use. She does not reach out to companies and doesn’t like the added stress of trying to promote products while still living her day to day life.

We can’t end this article without talking about Christina’s wonderful garage that she built over COVID. A project she knew was needed if she wanted to be a serious builder and drag racer. She started in a 1-1/2 car garage and upgraded to a 24’x32’ with a 16 foot peaked ceiling three car garage in her back yard. Fully decked out with lifts, plug ins and all the room in the world she can now swap motors and ***cough*** store cars that might not be hers. People have told her, “you’re in the garage, you have to be tough,” however she fires back, “I don’t have to be tough, this is my garage…” It’s a sanctuary that has plenty of room for Christina to work year round.

I cannot thank Christina enough, for allowing me to come up and check out the shop and the current projects she is working on. If you’re looking for a great follow and inspiration on the internet go follow her on instagram @bsxnova and comment on her pics. She rarely looks at her direct messages so the easiest way is to comment and she will get back to you. I cannot wait to see the Nova with the painted hood giving it a fully finished look and really can't wait to see the Cutlass go down the strip. We might have to do a follow up episode at the track to make sure Christina is going to make the Cutlass a 9 sec car!