New production cars are usually designed to fit a certain need in the market, and if so inclined, a racer will take that same vehicle and make it something worthy of competition. Phil Hollingsworth liked the old-school styling of the Chevrolet HHR, but wanted to convert it into something he could take to the track. The final product of his vision is a 2009 HHR that can run low 10-second passes and still spend time cruising the streets.

Hollingsworth grew up in the golden age of hot rodding when the streets were filled with iconic muscle cars from Detroit. That made an impact on him, so when he saw a stock HHR the idea popped into his head to have one with Pro Street looks, reliable power, and be fun to drive on the street. Hollingsworth snatched up one of the HHRs from a local dealer and headed to Wizard Race Cars where a plan was hatched to make his dream come to life.

Michael Wood and the team from Wizard Race Cars specialize in projects like the HHR that are a little different, so they were ready with torches in hand to start the build. “We started off with a basically stock HHR and the only thing that is still original is the steel body and a few pieces of interior panels. We had to custom build the frame to fit the 31×18 wide street slicks, along with a chrome-moly roll cage for support and safety. We really wanted the car to sit as low as it could, so we custom built steel rocker panels to give the car a look of its own,” Wood says.

The HHR is powered by an LS3 and has a healthy hit of giggle juice on tap from Nitrous Outlet. Hollingsworth has been able to rip off low 10-second passes with this setup in full street trim. The HHR has been on the Hot Rod Power Tour and been on the Cruisin’ The Coast, as well. Since the HHR has proven so reliable Hollingsworth plans on using it for family vacations in the future!