Early Funny Cars 1964-1975 – A History of Tech Evolution from Altered Wheelbase to Match Race Flip Tops
Author: Lou Hart
Published by: Car Tech
ISBN: 978-1-61325-698-5
All fans of drag racing will know about funny cars, with their huge front-mounted engines and super-lightweight, flip-up glass fibre bodies. Along with top fuel dragsters and pro-stockers they have been the mainstay of the sport and a perennial favourite with the crowds. However, they did not appear fully fledged out of nowhere. Their development, while pretty quick during the midSixties, evolved in a series of innovative steps from relatively stock vehicles to the spectacular over-thetop racing machines we are familiar with today. The most successful pushed the speeds up and elapsed times down.
This new book traces the history of the early racers as they fought for supremacy on the quarter-mile tracks across America during these golden years. As the teams competed for the fastest times they tried a succession of ways to get the cars not only quicker, but also off the startline with greater traction and harder launches. While being forced to stay within the strict rules dictated by the two main governing bodies – the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) – things were tweaked, tricks were tried and gradually the cars changed both in power output and appearance. The A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) and Experimental Stock (X/S) classes allowed for more radical modifications. The Mopar teams tried moving the rear axles forward in the bodies, a ploy soon adopted by Ford-supported teams. The GM ban on motorsports at the time limited the sponsorship available for Chevy and Pontiac race teams, but unofficial back door support nonetheless made its way to them.
Altered wheelbases led to lightened bodies with an increasing number of glass fibre panels replacing the stock steel. This encouraged the use of full space frame chassis. At this point, the performance available resulted in an increase in showmanship, with half track burnouts, flame-ejecting headers and wild paint jobs. In less than a decade the funny car was fully developed and their resemblance to the relatively stock vehicles that preceded them was forever changed.
This is a great book for drag race fans. There are a large number of contemporary photos dating from 1964 to the mid-Seventies and stories of individual teams and drivers that continually pushed back the envelope, despite occasional opposition from the racing associations. Ultimately, the promoters won. Funny cars were fast and spectacular, mishaps could be shocking and sometimes tragic, but the action got the proverbial bums on the seats. The grandstands were full and the racing was tight. Overlook this terrific book at your peril!