Blast through the evolving early years of Funny Car drag racing when doorslammers morphed into flip-top rail monsters. The era features historic mounts from Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick, Al “the Flying Dutchman” Vanderwoude, "Jungle" Jim Liberman, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, and many more!
The metamorphosis from doorslammers to fiberglass flip-top dragsters wasn’t ever a cut and dry plan. As drag racers pushed the envelope for more speed, a series of innovations quickly evolved and refined the genre.
Funny Cars cut their teeth in the A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) and Experimental Stock (X/S) classes in 1964 with the 2-percent Mopars that looked funny with their axles moved forward. However, it was Jack Chrisman’s supercharged, nitro-fueled 427 Supercharged Factory Experimental (S/FX) Comet Caliente that trailblazed the class on which the NHRA turned its back and the AHRA fully accepted. Showmanship became the draw in the dawn of Funny Car with half-track burnouts and flame-throwing headers that packed fans five deep at the fence.
Contents: ● Dedication ● Acknowledgments ● Foreword by Dale Pulde ● Chapter 1: 1964–1965: Quarter-Mile Madness: Mixing Aspects of A/FX and X/S ● Chapter 2: 1966–1967: Funny Cars Hit the Scene ● Chapter 3: The Magical Realm of Funny Cars ● Chapter 4: 1970–1974: Performance, Growth, and Surprises ● Chapter 5: The Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars ● Chapter 6: Wildlife Racing Enterprises Brings Hot Wheels into Drag Racing ● Chapter 7: Mid-Engine Marvels or Quarter-Mile Monstrosities of Technology and Safety? ● Chapter 8: “Jungle” Jim Liberman: The Persona of a True Showman
By 1969, the NHRA had no choice but to create a class for these nitro-breathing, flip-top-sporting rail bruisers, indoctrinating the Funny Car (F/C) class at the Winternationals with 40 cars vying for 16 places in the field. The rest, as they say, is history!
