Tri-Athlete

This Twin-Turbo Tri-five Chevy was initially going to be built to tackle hot rod drag week, but it ended up a fearsome cruiser instead.

- Iain Kelly 

A TUBBED tri-five Chevy is just about as iconic an image in street machining as you can find, and this ’56 sedan encapsulates everything awesome about tough street cars. Sydney’s Anthony Penna spent over six years building this twin-turbocharged, trophy-taking monster, although it all started by accident.

“I had just sold my drag car and my ’bagged LS1 ’61 Cadillac and I was looking for a new project so I could have the best of both worlds in one,” Anthony says. “I was on the way to have lunch with my wife when I noticed the Chev parked on a footpath, so I turned around, did the deal and bought it. It was a very expensive lunch, which I am still paying for!

“This car was never supposed to be this good,” he continues. “Six years ago, before Street Machine Drag Challenge was around, it was meant to be built like a Hot Rod Drag Week car: plain black interior, aluminium door trims and unpainted. I wanted it to look like a cool old school Pro Street car, but I got the chassis powder coated by Peter Snell and thought it looked awesome, and then I got tube control arms, and all of a sudden I’m winning trophies.”

Sitting as a freshly imported left-hook, brown two-tone survivor, the tri-five was a heck of a long way from the tubbed glamour it is today. And these days the more-door has no problems with its power-toweight ratio thanks to a 725rwhp 408ci LS up front, built by Sydney horsepower kings ProFlo Performance.