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Drag Racing Funny Cars of the 1970s

Author: Wallace A Wyss

Publisher: Enthusiast Books

Published: 2002-06-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781583880685

See the cars raced by many of the legendary names in drag racing, including Don Prudhomme, Tom McEuen and Jim Dunn. The authors include action shots, as well as clear, detailed "in the pits under-the-shell" shots. Photographs show various makes and models of cars that have been reconstructed as funny cars, plus everything from stock to modified Camaros, Mustangs, Javelins, Dodge Chargers, and Firebirds, to oddball exhibition cars like the "backwards pickup."

Early Funny Cars

Author: Lou Hart

Publisher: CarTech Inc

Published: 2022-04-15

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1613256981

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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. 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!

Drag Racing Funny Cars

Author: Lou Hart

Publisher: Enthusiast Books

Published: 2008-11-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781583882207

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Since the early 1960s, dealer-sponsored Super Stockers battled for supremacy on the quarter-mile and in the dealer showrooms. Evolving into the Factory Experimental class, these wild steel bodied, altered–wheelbase monsters were stuffed with massive fuel injected and supercharged engines that attracted crowds to the dragstrip! Legendary pioneers “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Jack Chrisman, Bill Shrewsberry, Butch Leal, Dick Landy, Arnie Beswick, Phil Bonner, Gas Ronda, Don Gay, Sox & Martin, Richard Petty, and many other A/FX stars were instrumental in the development of the funny car as it morphed from a heavy production car into seven-second 250mph aerodynamic fiberglass, tubular chassis missile. The popularity of funny cars led “Jungle Jim” Lieberman, Bill Lawton, Lew Arrington, Bill Flynn, Norm Kraus, and “Big” John Mazmanian to become household names. Tom ”Mongoose” McEwen, Don “Snake” Prudhomme, Tom Hoover, Kenny Safford, Terry Capp, John Force, Kenny Bernstein, Jake Johnston, Larry Reyes, Richard Tharp, Roland Leong, Randy Walls, Jess Tyree, Rich Siroonian and others who achieved success racing funny cars are all featured in over 300 incredible color and black and white photos.

Funny Car Fever

Author: Steve Reyes

Publisher: Cartech

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781932494433

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There wasn't always a class for these "funny-looking" cars. In the mid 1960s, many of drag racing's fastest drivers were outgrowing the Super Stock and Factory Experimental classes, building cars that stretched and eventually broke the rules. Promoters discovered they could pair up these altered-wheelbase, injected, blown machines in exhibition match races--and the spectators came running. Rivalries were born, the Funny Car class was created, and the cars kept getting faster and faster. Funny Car Fever is a humorous, heart-felt, first-hand account of the most exciting and memorable years of the Funny Car class. Steve Reyes followed these fiberglass-bodied, nitro burning machines and their drivers from the years leading up to the creation of the Funny Car class through its halcyon days. He's included over 350 of his favorite images and more than a few never-before-heard stories to bring the feeling of the class and the era home to you.

Drag Racing in the 1960s

Author: Doug Boyce

Publisher: CarTech Inc

Published: 2021-03-15

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1613255829

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The 1960s were a fascinating decade on the race scene. Relive the memories today through this wonderful new book. Drag racing has a long and storied history. Many have said that the first drag race happened shortly after the second car was made. While that may or may not be true, racing prior to World War II was mostly centered around dry-lake activities and top-speed runs. After the war, drag racing became organized with the formation of the NHRA, and during the 1950s, many tracks were built across America to accommodate the racers. Technology in the 1950s centered on the manufacturers updating old flathead designs into newer overhead-valve designs, and the horsepower race really started to heat up. In many forms of racing, the 1960s brought technological evolution. The decade began with big engines in even bigger stock chassis and ended with purpose-built race-only chassis, fiberglass bodies, fuel injection, nitro methane, and blowers. Quarter-mile times that were in the 13-second range in the beginning of the decade were in the 7-second range by the end. New classes were formed, dedicated cars were built for them, and many racers themselves became recognized names in the sports landscape. In Drag Racing in the 60s: The Evolution in Race Car Technology, veteran author Doug Boyce takes you on a ride through the entire decade from a technological point of view rather than a results-based one. Covered are all the classes, including Super Stocks, Altered Wheelbase cars (which led to Funny Cars), Top Fuelers, Gassers, and more.

Funny Cars

Author: Robert Genat

Publisher: Motorbooks International

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9780760307953

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Traces the development of funny cars from the stock cars of the early 1960s to the dragsters of today, including coverage of the sport of funny car racing, types of funny cars, and famous drivers.

Don "The Snake" Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320

Author: Elana Scherr

Publisher: CarTech Inc

Published: 2020-10-16

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1613255187

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Don "The Snake" Prudhomme reveals for the first time ever his incredible life and career on and off of the drag strip.

Imagine spending a year with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, having coffee together and talking about his life, his racing, his friends, and his family. He’d tell you about how he rose from being a high school drop-out who was painting cars to a respected Top Fuel dragster driver and successful businessman. You’d hear how he toured the country with Tommy Ivo and "The Hawaiian" Roland Leong, racing all the legends from "Big Daddy" Don Garlits to "The Golden Greek" [Chris] Karamesines. He'd say how he met Tom McEwen and recall how they became the Snake and the Mongoose, leading to a career in Funny Cars that netted him four championships in a row. He'd talk about the thrill of first wins and owning his own teams but also the struggles of bad seasons, crashes and fires, broken parts, and broken contracts. Along the way, he’d speak about the people in his life, such as engine-builder Keith Black and NHRA president Wally Parks, and those who were killed in the wild and unpredictable sport of nitro racing. It wouldn’t be only racing, though. Prudhomme would share lessons he learned about business and life from such varied sources as a neighbor in Granada Hills to Ford GT40 driver Dan Gurney. He also would talk about the importance of family: how his wife, Lynn, and daughter, Donna, changed his world and how finding out about his African-American roots opened his eyes to a culture and inheritance he’d always wanted. This is the experience you’ll get in Don "The Snake" Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320.

How to Build Altered Wheelbase Cars

Author: Steve Magnante

Publisher: CarTech Inc

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 1934709263

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In How to Build Altered Wheelbase Cars, renowned writer Steve Magnante first walks readers through the colorful history of the altered wheelbase period and then shows them how to perform these radical modifications themselves. Magnante's fun and colorful style makes for entertaining reading, and the coverage of floorpan mods, chassis alterations, and both front and rear suspension upgrades are covered in great detail on three different chassis types. After reading this book, the basic technical tenets of altering vehicle wheelbase will be understood and the almost mythical legend surrounding such cars will be fully realized. What were once considered "race only" modifications can now be civilized for street use, and Magnante carefully reviews all of the relevant points for optimal appearance, performance, and safety.

Cool Cars

Author: Seymour Simon

Publisher: StarWalk Kids Media

Published: 2014-05-30

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 1630832758

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American cars travel two-and-a-half trillion miles in a year - that's five million round trips to the moon! SeeMore about the history and uses of the automobile, and learn about the cars of the future. Newly updated 2014.

Dyno Don

Author: Doug Boyce

Publisher: CarTech Inc

Published: 2018-07-16

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1613254059

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Many fans of drag racing consider the most interesting era to be from the 1950s through the 1970s, the years when the sport really took off. During that period, so much changed from a speed and technology standpoint that people often refer to this time as the golden age of drag racing. Drivers often became associated with a particular manufacturer, such as Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler through sponsorship, factory team rides, or sometimes simply their own preference. The more successful drivers became household names in the drag racing community. Chevy had Grumpy Jenkins, Pontiac had Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick, Mopar had Sox & Martin and Dandy Dick Landy, and Ford's most successful driver of the era was the legendary "Dyno Don" Nicholson. Nicholson's first wins on a national level were actually in the early 1960s in Chevrolet products. He became extremely successful on the match-race circuit. Then, in 1964, he switched over to Mercury with the new Comet after General Motors enacted a factory ban on racing activities. He won 90 percent of his match races that year. He stuck with Ford and Mercury products and won throughout the 1960s and 1970s, even after Ford also pulled the plug on factory team sponsorship. He made it to the final rounds in nearly 50 national events during that period, in addition to winning championships, awards, and match races along the way. If you are a fan of a certain era of racing, a Ford fan, or certainly a "Dyno Don" fan, this book will be a welcome addition to your library.