History For the "old guy's", who built the 1st "funny car"?

..Counts as a quirky experience I'd guess..

 

I purposely waited to add my .02 to see where this went. The term was derived from the "Fuel Coupe" class or F/C which is where a witty anouncer threw the term "Funny Car" out, thus it became official a short time later. Mazooma and Finch left that out but are otherwise on the money as far as records go. Unoffically? In 65 Chrysler built a full 'glass flip up body on a Logghe chassis. I can't recall if was injected or blown but the story read that the car was disqualified before it ever made a pass due to the then "over the top" engineering. It came out later once the Mercurys were making runs and turning heads. This may also coincide with the minor skirmish that MOPAR and the NHRA were having over the tire deal from the year prior. This little known or seldom spoken fact was in an early 80s issue called Car Craft Annual, but it went way back to the roots of many cars, classes, and mag projects. I recall a bit of it also from a Motor Trend history book of cars and performance. Much like how an L-88 Corvette could never beat a 427 Cobra, or that the 440 6bbl was faster as delivered than the HEMI, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

I'm not disrespecting anyone's memories or knowledge here and these things have simply stayed with me for decades. The "known and accepted" history is dead on as reported above, yet if the car was outlawed before it had a chance I'd assume it's existence may not count until it was accepted.

 

Pellegrini's Super Mustang ran as early as mid 65. If you want to use the definition of Funny Car as being Tube frame, modified Body, Altered Wheelbase and relocated engine - then certainly this car must fall in to the category of one of, if not the first "True Funny Car" even though somehow it ran in FX at first. As has been stated, I think it depends on what definition you want to use.

 

The designation of "fuel coupe" was also used to differentiate between a "shorty" body vs. a "chute pack" body on T/F dragsters....Doug or I didn't use it because it further complicated the equation.

 

As far as I remember, in 64 there were altered wheelbase A/FX Dodges that one announcer said made the car look 'funny'. These were steel bodied cars. Pellegrini's Mustang was the first all fiberglass body funny car. I helped build and lettered it. rj

 

Right on Rick, I agree. It actually was applied to our "funny looking" cars when they "tipped the can" so they got ushered into that designation once FX was dropped or became confusing, etc. You guys would clearly know more about it having fond and vivid memories. The sad fact is, as this topic has indeed shown, sometimes these discussions get just flat silly. Me, I'm a reader and a history fan. I love obscure details. The topic of F/C history is one of my favorites. Also since "Big Al" was brought up, the recent story in HRD had quoted him as saying how the engineers from Ford/Mercury looked his 'glass body over real good and soon after did their Comets. I guess it all corelates somehow to those who wish to know it.

 

How about somebody asking this guy?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=522214

He's still around on here from time to time.

 

your just jealous cause these cars ran faster than any dragster you drove! people wouldn't even run against big al 2 cause it was so quick the green monster was great also. as for these being circus acts so were the altered wheelbase cars and the first so called funny cars why do you think they earned the name funny cars?

 

Dude... you're 18-years-old. Just chill a bit, grasshopper. Your time will come. Learn from these fellows that lived through that period of time, and were actually there to see it in person. Pay attention to the guys that are attempting to teach you something...

 

how about Arnie BeswicK world series of drag racing at cordorvia broke into the 8's 1965

 

Bad guy for you to cop an attitude with... Rick has forgotten more about drag cars than 90% of the guys on the HAMB will ever know. Puff out your chest somewhere else.

Better yet, go read the thread at the link I posted earlier...

 

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Old School HAMBer



Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Columbia, Missouri
Posts: 2,781


</TD><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_1771458 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid"><!-- icon and title --> Re: Big Al's Allison Powered 34?
<HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by Locomotive Breath
... Does anyone know what kinda times the 34 ran? ...
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Big Al I (the steel bodied version) ran 10.50 @ 148 at Lions in Augugst 1963; and won top eliminator at Cotati, California.

Big Al II (fiberglass) was the first drag car to top 160 in the low 9's.

this per the writing on the poster that was referenced in reply #6 above

So....do you want the facts, or continue with your delusions?
....and by the way, I went faster in a SBC powered dragster on GAS in 1972 than those two EVER went. The bigger question is why am I arguing with an 18 yr. old.....
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Beswick in the Mystery Tornado, blown and injected 421SD on fuel.
early 65.

 

Go to www.dragracingonline.com/toc_vii_7.html Go to the Features column and look for The Birth of Nitro Funny Cars.If that site doesn't take you there,go to the online site and go to Archives.Look for the Vol. 7,Number 7,July 2005.Great article.

 

your arguing with an 18 year old just cause well its the only way for me to learn i only know what ive read about and i prolly shouldnt argue with you but im used to the people around where i live who tell you some crazy stuff like how they used to have a 1969 pontiac ss with a factory hemi or a 1974 yenko nova i apologize i bow to a greater knowledge than my own.

 

Funny Cars have always run in the Fuel Classes as Fuel Dragsters.AWB FX cars are Factory Experimental cars.Sure they look "funny" but a true Funny Car runs on Nitro.

 

Apology accepted.....there is a wealth on knowledge on this forum, open your mind to it....look, listen & learn. It takes a big man to apologize publically, I commend you....

By the way, there is only one thing in the world I would ever lie to you about...........women.

 

That's strange, because I read that he built the Chevy II after driving the Georgia Shaker Falcon and built it as a Chevy version.

 

Yer a fuckin class act Finch...

 

Ya know a lot of the fellas "cop an attitude" in this type of discussion. Men like Rick let it roll off with the knowlege that there are far better things in this world to get upset over. If you have spent any time in the pits you just learn that there are folks that will disagree with you and as long as they are not talking about your mom or you sister it is no big deal. Men like Rick defend themselves when it is necessary knowing that when the time comes they won't need anyone to step up to the plate for them.

Now lets get back to argueing about who built the first funny car.

Here is some food for thought for you. When I was real young I went to a track with the Ol' Man to watch TV Tommy make a pass in that big 4 engined thing he built. The announcer called it a funny car not as in "FUNNY CAR" a remark I am sure comparing it to the rest of the cars in the field that day. At least that is the way that my childish mind took it. Does that make it a funny car and would it be the first just because it was the first one to be called that or was there possibly one called that before that day?

 

I've seldom seen so much misinformation in one HAAMB thread.
NOBODY built the first funny car, it was a gradual evolution of A/FX run what ya brung and exhibition cars! It's not like one guy invented the funny car. It's generaly known that Jack Chrismans Comet, the Dodge Chargers and Landy's Dodge are the first cars that came from this evolution that we call funny cars. Many others were building similar cars at the time.
Jeeez

 

Now you are going to get everyone's panties in a bunch.

Everyone want's there favorite AWB to be the first funny. The truth is that no one can puit their finger on the first person to build anything, no one intimately knows everyone in the world. We can only tell what is generally given to be fact, in the world of autos that is made to be true by promotion. Who ever is the best known will be the one who was first.

 

So I put the question to Wayne Darnaby (waydar here on the HAMB)... Here's his email reply...might surprise some of you.

Ray....don't know that I can help. Dick Branstner and Roger Lindamood was up there with Color Me Gone. I was the first funny car to run fuel as the factory sponsors wouldn't allow any of their car to use fuel. I ran fuel and had the rear wheels moved forward at the AHRA June Nationals in Gary IN 1965. As there was no class for funny cars I had to run as a B Fuel Altered. Didn't matter to me as I set a world mark anyway. They were just starting to run A Super Stock but of course no body alterations. This probably won't answer your question but might stir up some noise ???? You have to remember the mind forgets with age. Now what were we discussing?

waydar

 

Come on guys........ AWB, "Zoomies"............. if this isn't it I don't know what is.

 

I guess you don't.
Larry T

Now that I think about it, you might be closer to right than I thought. Same bunch of engineers that did the Factory Chrysler AWB deal in the 63/64.

 

Exactly.

 

this is on my someday gonna build something like it list i love this car i pull out my issue of hotrod that they did a history of this car in and just stare at the two black marks on the pavement that this thing dug on bias ply tires that is a wicked machine.

 

That car looked awful back then and just as bad today. It would be foolish to bag on anything else about it. It took advantage of some things and led the way to better working/running cars. As confirmed by Doug and Finch, it was the class F/C applied to certain cars that gave witty announcers the idea. Any "Funny Car" back then was on fuel. Later on we progressed to pro comp class floppers on alky and then gave birth to Alcohol Funny Cars. Classes were AA/FC for nitro, BB/FC for alky and injected cars. Damn those were some awesome days. The late 60s true "flopper" looked like the reral thing. The rules wouldn't allow too much and the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" thinking was still in place. At one time it was considered a curse to run a Vette funny car as most of them crashed and a few with fatal results. Sadly it's become a very sterile form of racing that's a mere shadow of it's roots. If it weren't for some of the names behind the scenes it's identity from the past would be almost gone. And how kool is it that some of those heros took the other trail into Pro Stock? I'm about 10 years too fuckin young. I could only drool over magazines and witness the few races at Detroit Dragway. The many I missed, I would go up to my room and listen out the window, counting in my head how fast the cars were. We lived about 10 miles from there but the nitro cars could be heard quite well in the heavy summer night air. Funny cars? Fuckin eh...

 

I don't think you can consider the High & MIghty a Funny Car because it's an Altered and not many altereds were compaired to stockers.

The Funny Car name came about because the AWB cars were funny looking when they were compared to new stock cars.

Where it gets kinda of fuzzy is when the name Funny Car was first used. Was it used on the "2%" cars that ran in 64? Was 2% relocated wheelbase enough to make a car look different enough to be called funny or did that come later on with the more radical wheelbase changes?

I'm not saying Landy was the first, but there's some pretty good information here if you read it all the way to the bottom.
http://1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/landys64.html
Larry T