themotorhood.com^29
T
he iconic characters of Wile E Coyote and
Road Runner terrorized each other on
screen from 1949, and, as most of us know,
they tormented each other to unbelievable
proportions. For all his efforts, the ever-crafty, self-
professed genius Coyote never did get to eat the equally
cunning Road Runner.
If Wellington’s Steve Pugh had been writing the story,
crafty Coyote wouldn’t have had a shot, as, after creating
what he deemed to be the ultimate Road Runner, Steve
went a step further and built one even better.
The duo are equal parts brawn and brain matched with
good looks for the ultimate street combo. Having owned
the 1970 since 2006 and built it up over those years,
Steve never actually intended to add the evil twin.
“The ’69 is running a 572 Hemi, which was going to go
in my ’70, but I ended up building another car around it!”
he laughs.
Clearly, the man’s an evil genius, as pulling off an
unintended build as good as the ’69 was no mean feat.
Steve’s love of the street/strip combo goes back to his
early days of unsanctioned school lunchtime drags
between speed bumps along Auckland’s Long Bay Beach,
which led to watching those with a bit more power
around the back streets of Penrose. Although lacking
funds to run a decent car to give the Penrose night drags
a hit himself, all this was enough to plant the seed that
has stayed with him ever since.