OT?? Late 60's-70's Funnycars....Where are they????

I was going through some of my early 70's HOTROD and Car Craft mags over the weekend.....back then @ every issue had drag coverage in it and alot of features on Funnycars. Ramchargers, Chi-Town Hustler, Hawaiian, WonderBread, Blue Max, along with many lesser known cars....there were ALOT of 'em.....

Anyway....what happened to 'em? Did they get updated throughout the 70's? What happened to the old bodies? Did they just get parted out and scrapped?

I was at a small metal polishing shop years ago dropping off some Alcoa wheels for a Semi.....in the rafters of that shop were a pair of funnycar bodies....a '70-'73 Camaro and a '70-'71 'Cuda....never asked about 'em but always wondered.....

I was born in the 70's, so I was too young to really experience the cars LIVE, especially living in AK.....always loved 'em though.....someday maybe even find one of my own....

So, WHERE are all the old F/C's now???

 

i know where theres a barn with a few in

 

That would be Larry the polisher in Auburn?? Sold him our 69 Cougar funny car body some years ago. We bought it from a gal that had flowers planted in it for $35. Larry has a bunch of funny car bodys.........OLDBEET

 

There's a page on this site.

http://www.70sfunnycars.com/lost.html

 

I forget his name...but yeah, it was Auburn....the shop was Aluminations???

Dave...Thanks for the link! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Cool pics man.....

I love this shit man....if I could even find a body to hang in the rafters....that would rule......

Zach....a barn full of Funnycars??? haha.......your FUNNY....

 

Lots of 'em are being resurected in the Nostalgia FC class. A few guys are popping them from original bodies, but I saw the old Pisano brothers Vega at Bruce Dyda's shop last time I visited. There are actually enough being brough back that Gaynor is shopping a few match race shows around. I think even up at Seattle. And they're running big percentages of Nitro and even doing dry hops too. Hell, some guys are doing flame burn outs. They aren't gone, they've just been resting.

Look here:
www.nostalgiafunnycarnews.com
www.sgroracing.com/
www.roadsters.com/ndr/
competitionplus.com/06_17_2004/nostalgia_series.html
www.home.earthlink.net/~kgrizwald/chuckhorvath.html
nitrosheriff.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6cTrr5ODq8
www.lilnate.com/
www.nitrojunk.com/gallery/displayimage-topn-15-11.html

Just scratching the surface here. Since NHRA went to 85%, rev limiters and the stupid Chase to the Final 8 deal, this is where the real good racing is going.

Have fun looking and support these guys when they hit your local track.

 

Chili.....I was hoping you'd chime in.......thanks for the info.....I'm going to be busy now......hehe.....

Absolutely!!!

 

i've got a old early 70's 118" chromoly chassis at the house....it was converted to a altered like most...its a logghe style 4 bar front with coil overs and bell crank steering....was out of the indy area prior to the early 90's ...ran under the name "time zone" with a 23t body......there are a couple 125" 70's and 80's style cars in my area....i ask all the time about old cars in my area......not much on my side of the river.....lol brandon

 

I'm actually serious
my friend Bruce Larson used to drive them....
he has the first ever fiberglass bodied car and a buch of others up through the years
its a neat collection althogh he did just sell his cobra that he raced for a bit
I've been trying to find some parts for him for the restoration of his first ever hot rod...a 32 5 window he built in 1954....
he also has tommy ivo's first? rear engined car in there
Zach

 

THIS Bruce???
Cool Zach......

 

that'd be him
funny thing is...i know him from hot rods not drag racing
he won the funny car world championship in 1989

 

Yeah, it once was a "Dyno Don" car and then it became Clarence Baileys "King Bugaloo". Had a green plexi back window with 2 paws cut out in it. He must have bought it in 86 or so and said he was going to restore it, never seen it since. I have seen pics of it in one of those links above.

 

This one Keith??

 

The Chi-town Hustler is still haulin the mail,, The Stardust car has be re-created,, I did new belly pans and such for it! All of Jungle Jim's cars have been accounted for. The Boggs Bros AMX is back in service.

these cars are becoming a very popular thing to race. I for one am glad to be a part of it. Rooman is big into the nostalgia thing as well.

I posted this link before, but here's the funnies at Indy Goodguys, as well as the hambsters.
http://www.datinmanjay.com/gg1

If it weren't for the modern tow vehicles in some of the pics they could have been taken 30 years ago.

 

Thats the one K-MEMBER and I sold!!!!!.............OLDBEET

 

Anyone know of good books on the history of the cars and their drivers???
A few recent GARAGE magazines had articles that were very cool, I really dig the REAL story behind the scenes of the various teams and the crazy antics that went down......

 

There was a Logghe chassis/Torino Funny Car here a few years back. The owner had me cut down the roll cage to a more "modern" style (I tried to discourage that but he didn't listen) and put a Bantam roadster body on the thing. It looked like crap !

Fortunately a collector in Hartford City, IN ended up with it and I believe he put it back to the way it was built originally. As far as I know it is still there along with several other vintage drag cars.

 

I think that those that are still around should be put back together, gather them all at a big show ( MoonEyes Xmas show) and run them down the track against each other. That to me would be kool since I never had the chance to see any of the old funny cars and fuel alters back in their day. KNUX!

 

Yeah, that's it! I wonder where it is now. Would be great to see it all done up again.

 

"I love this shit man....if I could even find a body to hang in the rafters....that would rule......"

Prepare to begin your rule, Sinister...I have a brand new repro '71-73 Vega body for sale...I'm serious.

 

I watched several of them run two weeks ago here in Spokane. I stood at the finish line 10 feet from the edge of the track as two passed side by side at 250. What a rush!

 

New Bodies

I really like the Charger and Satellite......

 

Bruce Larson is supposed to run USA-1 at Capitol Raceway in Crofton, MD on 10/14.

-Lee
www.atomicpinup.com

 

that be mike guffey ....was that car the larry coleman car...? brandon

 

As many of you know, I have been serching for an amc funny for a while now....I have probably the rarest motor on the planet, the Grant Rebel Amc motor. Obviously I would like to restore that funny car, but I have not been able to convince the owner to part with the body as of yet. Well this weekend I went to the Dream cruise and had arranged on sunday to go look at an Amx funny. I have been talking back and forth about 6 months for this car and finally was able to go look at it.....Unfortunatly, Barrett Jackasson prices were mentioned, and I will let it sit untill reality sets in. So the hunt continiues!

Don

 

is it a short car ....looks like its maybe 110 max.....but not boggs bros short...as for the grant rebel....what happened to it...? brandon

 

The original ( as it was run ) 1969 CHI-TOWN HUSTLER Nitro Fuel DODGE Charger is being brought back to life at my place right now.

I am also building a brand new sister car that will do burn out shows next Summer.

The pair are way, way cool.

here's a link to some build pic's.

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?ownerid=9990110609238




RMP

 

RMP.....that's awesome! Chi-Town Hustler's are my favs.....especially the early Charger bodied cars......looking good!

 

I'm not sure of the original owner. The Hartford City guy sells on eBay a lot....mainly old sprint car stuff. I have the aluminum brake pedal from that Funny Car...offered it to him but he never responded.