In a hobby where enthusiasts try to merge performance with style, it’s an ongoing battle to stay up to date and have the fastest or best-handling car out there. And while some cars quickly become dated and struggle to retain a level of driveability, we’ve run across a project that, when completed, will remain current for quite some time. Sure, drag cars and road-race cars can stand the test of time in their own environments, but the project we’re following here shows no signs of boundaries. With a fully tunable suspension and a healthy powerplant, this car will be versatile, and let’s not forget the ultimate factor on this build—it will be a street car.

The Smokin’ SS project is being built in Crossville, Tennessee, at Metalcraft Tools SkillCenter. Mark Davis is the instructor and executive director at the school, and he has a few decades of fabrication experience under his belt. Davis is a perfectionist and has built many racecars, but this time he’s building the ultimate street car from a rough and ragged ’86 Monte Carlo acquired from a local junkyard. Davis has built a number of racecars based on this platform, but this will be his chance to build a great all-around street car with the looks of a mid-’80s NASCAR racer.

Though Davis could easily build this car on his own, he’s decided to extend his knowledge to Tennessee locals Daniel Keys and Chris Wilson, both students at Metalcraft Tools SkillCenter. As the instructor, Davis has to decide when his students are ready to progress and exercise their skills on a daily basis, so a full-on project such as this is the perfect way to see how a student would handle such a large task in a fabrication or race shop. The two students involved with the Smokin’ SS project are both dedicated individuals, and when this Monte Carlo is finished, they can honestly say, “We built that car!”

We’re following along with the entire build, and we must say, it is an extensive process, but the result will be worth the effort for the students—especially when they see this car being thrashed on the dragstrip, autocross course and paved oval. Those three tests, along with some street cruising, will decide just how versatile this Monte Carlo can be and how well the suspension is tuned. This car may even make a few passes at the Bonneville Salt Flats, with an engine and planned mods to break the 200-mph barrier.

One of the initial drawbacks of this body style is its aerodynamics, or lack thereof. For all the racers who raced a Monte Carlo Stock Car, this drawback presented handling problems at high speeds due to interrupted airflow created by the nearly vertical rear window. For the 1986 model year, GM introduced the Aerocoupe option for the Monte Carlo, and it produced only 200 models, which just so happened to be the magic number for NASCAR to approve this new rear window design. One of the advantages of the new rear glass was a 2.7 percent reduction in drag coefficient, which equaled an approximate 5-mph gain on the superspeedways.

The following year, Chevrolet made a little more than 6,000 Aerocoupes, so finding one today can be quite a chore. Davis knew that an Aerocoupe would be costly, so he opted for a regular Monte Carlo when it came time to explore the junkyard. Davis will incorporate an Aerocoupe back glass and a custom decklid to the Smokin’ SS project, and will drop the rubber nose down, just as the NASCAR teams did back in the ’80s. These body modifications, including a chopped top and hand-fabricated body panels, will certainly help in the aerodynamics department and give the scratch-built street car a distinctive look. This will not be your average street car. Davis also plans to tour around the country with this car and eventually auction it off, with all proceeds going toward tuition grants for the Metalcraft Tools SkillCenter.