@WizardOfChicamunga ~ Nice to hear from you. I've been off the PC for a month, hence the delay in responding to your note. I grew up in Norwalk and attended Santa Fe High in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I graduated in 1965 and then attended Cerritos Jr. College in Norwalk before I was eventually drafted in February of 1969. I put alot of time in at Irwindale Raceway.
I think you'll find that that was Clive Michell driving his fuel altered at Santa Pod Raceway back in the late 80s. I may be wrong with the date, it's a while since I worked on the cars there.
Fuel altered was a fun class to watch back in the 60's with Wild Willy and all the other great cars. Short 90+ inch wheelbases created some spooky 1320 foot runs. I lived at SoCal strips (Lions, Irwindale, OCIR, Pomona and Fontana) in the 1964-69 period (until I got drafted!) and never tired of the AA/FA cars. My favorite was the big-block Chevy powered car of Mondello & Matsubara with Sush Matsubara behind the wheel.
@MrRonnieG I lived in Azusa those years also. Irwindale was a fav spot of mine. In '68 I worked at a machine shop just off the entrance to the strip (the alley way). Where'd you live and go to school. I went to Gladstone High, class of '68.
@RIDINGDIRTY6969 Mate you're RETARDED! You can't spell and you're calling other people names. BTW it IS an Altered not a funny car. Give yourself an uppercut.
ITwas called altered cars ! they were nasty ! those old pie crust slicks ( hard compound ) made it worse ! they run some in the top eliminator now ! a lot safer now ; but still wild !
That's what was popular with the class. Short wheelbase and lots of horsepower meant you got to see cars out of shape going over 200mph. Fuel altereds always put on a good show!
It's not a front engine dragster it's called a fuel altered. I see them on a regular basis. NHRA did not get rid of the class of front engine dragsters. More the drivers after seeing Don gartlits clutch explode cutting the car in half and then coming back with a rear mounted engine decided that it was in ther best intrest to go with rear mounted along with safty it also gave better traction with motor over the rear tires allowing more power to be applied to the wheels.
Cool car! "Top Fuel: The Early Years". I like the front-mounted engine. Seems like it would have great balance and help keep the front end down. I'm suprised it even has Reverse! I always figured cars like that were for one thing only...going forward as fast as hell! (Well...I guess it is anyway. I'm just suprised they'd add the extra weight)
Believe it or not, those cars were not that stable. Part of the reason that the NHRA dissovled the class was because they were so dangerous and unpredictable. Modern altereds are much safer because we can build them better. We also have better tires and suspensions. The extra weight makes them more stable and less likely to swap lanes or crash. Things the originals were prone to do. Still, that has to be one wild ride.
Yes, a little. Narrow front tires on a dragster means less rolling resistance going down the track. It's always a fine line between control and speed. Bigger tires for control, smaller one's for speed. It's a balancing act.
One could dial in a few degrees of negative camber. It's the trick NASCAR uses to minimize rolling resistance at the big tracks while still putting the tires to use when the need to merge left arises.
Oh, I'm sure they do. Back in the day, people didn't understand how camber and caster worked. Todays technology is way better, and, we know how to make em go straight.
i need that car for go on holiday and arrive on time at the sea side
aleblink1988 9 months ago
@WizardOfChicamunga ~ Nice to hear from you. I've been off the PC for a month, hence the delay in responding to your note. I grew up in Norwalk and attended Santa Fe High in Santa Fe Springs, CA. I graduated in 1965 and then attended Cerritos Jr. College in Norwalk before I was eventually drafted in February of 1969. I put alot of time in at Irwindale Raceway.
MrRonnieG 1 year ago
This shit's too cool to film, it even distorts the camera while doing a burnout
emoklan 1 year ago
Wow that engine sounded flat from 330 feet on!
johnschaser 1 year ago
I think you'll find that that was Clive Michell driving his fuel altered at Santa Pod Raceway back in the late 80s. I may be wrong with the date, it's a while since I worked on the cars there.
MikeFrewer 1 year ago
is that considered ''neck snapping torque?''
Cmob68 1 year ago
skip to 1:25 to see the actual race.
XsumowrestlerX 1 year ago 6
Nice, a dragster that actually fits in the garage.
LibertaerUeberAlles 1 year ago
Fuel altered was a fun class to watch back in the 60's with Wild Willy and all the other great cars. Short 90+ inch wheelbases created some spooky 1320 foot runs. I lived at SoCal strips (Lions, Irwindale, OCIR, Pomona and Fontana) in the 1964-69 period (until I got drafted!) and never tired of the AA/FA cars. My favorite was the big-block Chevy powered car of Mondello & Matsubara with Sush Matsubara behind the wheel.
MrRonnieG 1 year ago
@MrRonnieG I lived in Azusa those years also. Irwindale was a fav spot of mine. In '68 I worked at a machine shop just off the entrance to the strip (the alley way). Where'd you live and go to school. I went to Gladstone High, class of '68.
WizardOfChicamunga 1 year ago
Its nothing nostalgic about this, its a modern funny car with out the body and a few wings added for down force. U people are retarted.
RIDINGDIRTY6969 1 year ago
@RIDINGDIRTY6969 Mate you're RETARDED! You can't spell and you're calling other people names. BTW it IS an Altered not a funny car. Give yourself an uppercut.
SierraKilo9 1 year ago
AA/FA .... what a dream machine!
mrgears 1 year ago
What did they run back then? Looks quite slow compared to modern top fuel dragsters
MoPar7055 1 year ago
ITwas called altered cars ! they were nasty ! those old pie crust slicks ( hard compound ) made it worse ! they run some in the top eliminator now ! a lot safer now ; but still wild !
crownv80 2 years ago
kinda a cross between a T/F & F/C.......
scootdog5 2 years ago
That's what was popular with the class. Short wheelbase and lots of horsepower meant you got to see cars out of shape going over 200mph. Fuel altereds always put on a good show!
DBLCC 2 years ago
I miss the dry hops after the burnout.
(guess I'm dating myself with that one!)
CSXer 2 years ago
It's not a front engine dragster it's called a fuel altered. I see them on a regular basis. NHRA did not get rid of the class of front engine dragsters. More the drivers after seeing Don gartlits clutch explode cutting the car in half and then coming back with a rear mounted engine decided that it was in ther best intrest to go with rear mounted along with safty it also gave better traction with motor over the rear tires allowing more power to be applied to the wheels.
whiskerbiscuit1965 2 years ago
whiskerbuiscuit1965......Your right, and it
was "Big" and TC (Lemmons) who finally figured out why RED's prior to
Big's NEVER went straight, to.
TurbinePower69 2 years ago
A bit slow wasn't it ?
OnTheLimits 2 years ago
Cool car! "Top Fuel: The Early Years". I like the front-mounted engine. Seems like it would have great balance and help keep the front end down. I'm suprised it even has Reverse! I always figured cars like that were for one thing only...going forward as fast as hell! (Well...I guess it is anyway. I'm just suprised they'd add the extra weight)
justforever96 2 years ago
Believe it or not, those cars were not that stable. Part of the reason that the NHRA dissovled the class was because they were so dangerous and unpredictable. Modern altereds are much safer because we can build them better. We also have better tires and suspensions. The extra weight makes them more stable and less likely to swap lanes or crash. Things the originals were prone to do. Still, that has to be one wild ride.
BigChief427 2 years ago
I'm sure they'd be a bit easier to control if they didn't have bicycle tires in the front. :P
TestECull 2 years ago
Yes, a little. Narrow front tires on a dragster means less rolling resistance going down the track. It's always a fine line between control and speed. Bigger tires for control, smaller one's for speed. It's a balancing act.
BigChief427 2 years ago
One could dial in a few degrees of negative camber. It's the trick NASCAR uses to minimize rolling resistance at the big tracks while still putting the tires to use when the need to merge left arises.
TestECull 2 years ago
Oh, I'm sure they do. Back in the day, people didn't understand how camber and caster worked. Todays technology is way better, and, we know how to make em go straight.
BigChief427 2 years ago
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