|
Round 31: Rear engine funny cars featuring
Jim Dunn in the Dunn & Reath Cuda, Dave Bowman's California Stud Vega Panel, Robert Contorelli's Mustang, John Force's
chain driven, sidewinder Mustang, Dick Stokes' Duster, Wayne Mahaffey's Alabamian Vega Panel, Ed Shaver's Castrol Hustler Vauxhall, Dennis Geisler in Bert Berniker's Hindsight Demon, Norm Oakey in the American Auto Parts
Monaro and Camaro, and Tony Froome's Sundance Vauxhall.
Without question, the most successful rear-engine funny in drag racing
history was "Big Jim" Dunn’s Cuda. This was the only one
to win a national event, the
1972 NHRA Supernationals. The car featured a trick Woody Gilmore chassis
with Dunn & Reath’s 392 Chrysler Hemi for power. This car was the
one featured in the movie Funny Car Summer in 1972. Dunn has mentioned
that this car was very difficult to drive and seldom made a full pass.
Jim’s best time was an amazing 6.44 -- nearly a half a second quicker
than the next rear-engine funny car! The car was replaced by a new
Satellite in 1974. It now resides in Western Canada. (Photo from Drag
Race Memories; info from Draglist files)
Dave Bowman had raced
top fuelers and fuel altereds before racing funny cars. The first
"California Stud" Mustang was the former Gas Rhonda mount.
Bowman raced the car a couple of times in 1971. In 1972, he built this new
"California Stud" Vega Panel funny car. The car had several
negatives as soon as it debuted. These included the rear-engine design,
space frame chassis, panel body, and cast iron Hemi. Despite all of these
shortcomings, the "California Stud" was the only rear engine
funny besides Dunn to make a final at a major race. Bowman managed to earn
the runner up spot at a PDA race at Orange County, mostly due to good
luck. The "Stud" ran 7.20 at 190 before being taken from the
asphalt to the sand. (Photo from Drag Race Memories, info from Draglist files)
Robert
Contorelli decided to go funny car racing after a short dragster career.
Contorelli’s rear-engine Mustang was built with the best of everything
at the time. It had a Woody Gilmore chassis, complete with state of the
art Donovan Aluminum Hemi. Ed Wills of Mr. Ed fame did the customized
Mustang body for Contorelli. The car was a hit with magazines, scoring
many photo shoots, but that did not translate into wide success on the drag strip. Contorelli’s best
pass was a 6.89 in 1972. The Mustang and Contorelli found their
way into California’s booming sand racing scene. (J.W. Last file photo,
info from Draglist files)
John Force’s first funny car was a major flop. Not only was "The
Night Stalker" a rear engined car, but the engine was mounted
sideways. John and Louie Force purchased the Mustang from Jack Chrisman.
Chrisman had built the car but never raced it. The car’s weak point was
the chain drive. Irwindale starter Larry Sutton was so tired of being hit
with chain links, he had John banned from the track. The car had a SOHC
427 Ford to begin with, but a Chrysler Hemi took its place. The car later
became the "Cop Patrol," but still was unsuccessful. (Photo
courtesy of Auto Imagery (www.autoimagery.com);
info from Draglist files)
Dick Stokes raced this rear engine funny car with the UDRA circuit and in
match races. The Hemi powered Duster was a departure from his previous
Pontiac mounts. The two previous "Blue Bandit" Pontiacs won many
traces from 1968 to 1970. This new ’72 Duster replaced the aging
"Blue Bandit" ‘69 GTO. Romeo Palamides was hired to build the
chassis and mount the body. This was Palamides’ first rear engine
chassis, but he had built front flip funny cars for Don Schumacher and
Arnie Beswick. Stokes ran the car over the next couple of years, hitting
times in the seven-second range. The car is still around today and running
as the "Lethal Injection." (Photo from Geri Golonka; info from
Draglist files)
Some rear-engine cars were short lived because of accidents. A prime
example of that was the "Alabamian" Vega Panel. The car crashed
in only its second race. Billy Holt had the car built by famed chassis
builder Don Hardy. Holt’s 426 Chrysler Hemi did not lack for power. The
car was debuted not long after this photo shoot at Six Flags.
"Alabamian" driver Wayne Mahaffey thankfully was not injured in
the car’s total destruction. Holt and Mahaffey built a conventional Vega
to replace the Panel Wagon. (Photo by from Holt Family files, info from
Draglist files)
Ed Shaver was a United States service man stationed in Great Britain. He
became a famous drag racer on his leave time. Shaver raced Stockers and
Super Stockers, winning class many times. He worked his way up to driving
the very weird Bond Bug AA/FA for Mark Stratton. The pair decided to build
a funny car next. Keeping a flair for the unique, they built the
"Castrol Hustler" Vauxhall. The car was built with a 392
Chrysler Hemi. Shaver wrote an article for Drag Racing USA, describing the
troubles of a rear engine funny car. These included poor handling and the
lack of depth perception. Peter Barnett and Tony Froome later drove the
tricky Vauxhall. (Photo and info by Alan Currans, additional info from Draglist
files)
The "Hindsight" funny car crash at Pomona is one of the most
remembered crashes of he seventies. It was caught on film by famed
journalist Woody Hatten and was replayed many times on television. The
crash of the "Hindsight" also ended the era of the rear-engine
funny car in NHRA national events. Bert Berniker had the
"Hindsight" Duster funny car built in late 1973. Jim Adolph was
the original driver of the "Hindsight" in shakedown runs. Fuel
Altered driver Dennis Geisler took over the driver’s seat in 1974. Times
were in the seven-second range, far behind the front runners of the day.
The end of the road for Berniker’s "Hindsight" was at the 1975
Winternationals at Pomona. In qualifying the car went into a wheel stand
and flipped over. The ensuing crash let the "Hindsight" live in
infamy. (Photo by Steve Reyes from 70’s FC files; info from Draglist files)
Norm Oakey was Australia’s only rear-engine funny car racer. Oakey dared
to be different in the seventies. This "American Auto Parts"
Holden Monaro was the second rear-engine funny car built by Oakley. The first
one, the scary, homebuilt Goggomobile, was raced in several
configurations. Oakey ran it with two blowers. Norm raced it with a
regular and rear engine chassis. Oakey was the first Australian funny car
in the eights with the Goggomobile. The Monaro replaced the homely
little car. Norm raced the Monaro for the next couple of years.
Oakey replaced the Valiant in 1976 with this Camaro, last rear engine
funny car to be newly constructed. The Camaro proved to be as much a
handful as the other rear engine funny cars. Norm parked the Camaro to
race dragsters by the late ‘70s. Oakey currently runs a Top Alcohol
Dragster with his son Dean. (Color photo from Steve Thomas/Visual
Velocity; B&W photo from David Cook; info from Draglist files)
Tony Froome’s Sundance was the last running rear-engine AA/FC funny car.
Froome bought the former Castrol Vauxhall car in 1976 and renamed the car
the "Sundance."
Froome rebuilt the car and the body and raced it through the 1979 season.
Tony used a 392 Chrysler Hemi in a Top Fueler and in this car. The aging
car was unsuccessful and Froome finally parked it. Tony returned to racing
with an injected alcohol Monza funny car. His son, Trace, is now the
driver of the Sunburst funny car. (Photo from Alan Currans; info from Draglist
files)
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Next ]
|
