The December 2017 issue of RPM Magazine brings the magazine’s 18th year to a close with an impressive mix of extreme street cars, purpose-built race machines, technical content and RPM’s annual Top Guns retrospective. The issue stays true to RPM’s long-established focus: race cars, muscle cars, hot rods and genuinely street-driven machines that push the limits of performance. December 2017

From a legitimate seven-second 1966 Pontiac GTO and a nitrous-fed ’57 Chevy to a six-second, street-driven Corvette and an unusual record-setting Opel, the December issue is particularly diverse. The contents also include project-car updates, data-logging tech, tool testing and performance-product installations. December 2017

GT-Oh So Fast — Jimmer Kline’s 1966 Pontiac GTO

Opening the feature-car coverage is Jimmer Kline’s 1966 Pontiac GTO, a car with a history stretching back nearly three decades.

Kline’s story began on graduation night in 1988 when his original 1966 Tempest was rear-ended and totaled. On his way to obtain the police report, he happened upon a 1966 LeMans and a basket-case GTO—a chance encounter that ultimately produced the car featured in RPM. December 2017

Flight 57 — Tom Reeks’ “White Lightning”

One of the issue’s most visually distinctive cars is Tom Reeks’ 1957 Chevrolet, appropriately nicknamed White Lightning.

For the Massapequa, Long Island resident, the Chevy represented far more than another fast car. Reeks described it as symbolic of overcoming adversity, hard work and his lifelong passion for automobiles. He acquired the white ’57 in 2005 after trading another blue Bel Air for what was already a modified mid-10-second car.

Real Deal — David Schroeder’s Six-Second 1966 Corvette

The cover car and arguably the headline attraction is David Schroeder’s 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.

The title “Real Deal” fits perfectly: this isn’t a Corvette-shaped race car. RPM emphasized that it retains a real Corvette body, is street driven and is capable of running deep into the six-second zone.

Resurrection — Jeff McCormick’s C4 Corvette

If Schroeder’s Corvette represents extreme drag-and-drive performance, Jeff McCormick’s C4 Corvette represents old-school Pro Street ingenuity.

McCormick started with a nearly destroyed Corvette purchased for just $4,000. Rather than pour household money into the project while he and his wife Barbara were putting three daughters through college, he financed the build through side jobs and buying and selling parts.

Even more impressively, he performed almost the entire build himself in a two-car garage using basic hand tools.

Unique — Allyn Armstrong’s Record-Holding Opel

Then the December issue changes direction completely.

Allyn Armstrong’s Opel demonstrates just how broad RPM’s definition of high performance really is.

Rather than relying on a huge-displacement V8, Armstrong competes in L/Altered within NHRA Competition Eliminator, using a high-revving four-cylinder combination, Liberty five-speed transmission and ACE clutch.

Project Cars & Technical Features

The December issue isn’t exclusively about finished cars. There’s a substantial hands-on technical component as well.

Extreme Weight Loss Challenge — Episode Three continues work on RPM’s Project 4 Lug Thug, this time looking at battery weight. The project moves to Go Lithium 16-volt batteries, each weighing just 8 pounds, 11 ounces, compared with roughly 40 pounds for many conventional full-size batteries. Even compared with the project car’s relatively light AGM battery, one Go Lithium unit represented roughly a 19-pound saving.

RPM opted for two batteries to provide additional cranking power and longer operating time between charges.

The issue also includes WORX Works Hard So You Don’t Have To, where RPM tests two new 20-volt lithium-ion tools; Products & Innovations: Nice Neck!, covering the AutoPlumb AN cooling-system water-neck adapter; and Little by Little, continuing the process of preparing another RPM project car for paint while taking care of numerous smaller build details. December 2017