The origination of the phrase "funny car" came from the fact that builders in the 1960s figured out that if you moved a race car's rear-end forward, it would create better traction when trying to control thousands of horsepower. This created cars that looked "funny" to many people, and the moniker stuck. Nonetheless, the performances of these initially steel-bodied drag cars were startling to say the least.
Jungle Jim
The original "Jungle Jim" funny car was built by Jim Liberman around a 1969 Chevrolet Nova coupe, and the little fastback was a real crowd-pleaser. Initially, Liberman had a crew member wear a gorilla suit when staging the car at the line. This approach, however, gave way to an attractive young woman (Pam Hardy) in hotpants who put the car in the lights for several years. Regardless of the showmanship, the car produced impressive speeds with a top run of 198.70.
Rambunctious
Gene Snow's "Rambunctious" was another of the early funny car variants that caught the eye of crowds all over the country. Snow started in Super Stock with various Dodges in the mid-1960s with reasonable success, but he finally got the car the way he wanted to with his 1969 Charger funny. This car was able to turn speeds in excess of 200 mph regularly; the first of this variant to do so.
The Eliminators
In the 1960s and early 1970s, American Automotive companies used professional drag racing in order to develop and showcase their cars to the public. As a result, Ford Motor Company developed four specialized Mercury Comets in 1965 to 1966 that came to be called the "Eliminators" run by Don Nicholson, Ed Schartman, Jack Chrisman and Kenz & Leslie. These cars were impressive in the day and regularly capable of producing speeds up to 180 mph.
Mickey Thompson's Mach 1
Funny car racer, owner and builder Mickey Thompson worked with Pat Foster to develop a transition-bodied 1969 427 SOHC Ford Mustang Mach 1 driven by Danny Ongias, plus a sister car driven by Foster himself. Together, the cars produced respective times, particularly for Ongais, when he turned a high of 204.73 that year.
Landy's Dodges
"Dandy" Dick Landy ran a 1966 fiberglass-bodied Dodge Dart funny that produced a series of impressive performances in the mid/late 1960s. At the time, Landy was Dodge-sponsored, and his tendency to forget performance, in favor of giving the crowd a show by doing enormous wheelies at the line caused fits with the corporate folks. Regardless, the car was very fast in its day, turning a top speed of 196.70, before Dick went back to the Super Stock ranks.
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