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Goodwood Festival of Speed, 11 July 2008

The Goodwood Festival of Speed this year featured a static display of veteran Top Fuel Dragsters most of which had been brought over from the USA specially for the event.  Spectators were also treated to cacklefests held twice daily.  I was there for the very first cacklefest at 11.00 am - it was a fantastic experience seeing and hearing these historic cars.  The cars were arranged in two rows on a mock drag strip with the oldest cars at the front, as shown in the two pictures below.

Art Chrisman's No. 25 entered by The Wally Parks NHRA Motor Sports Museum, Pomona, California
This car was originally constructed in the 1930s for competition on the Muroc dry lakes.  After the wheelbase had been increased for drag racing Art Chrisman became the first man to exceed 140 mph in the quarter which he did at the famous Santa Ana strip in California in 1953.  No. 25 was retired from competition in 1957 when Chrisman built his Hustler dragster.  The car was driven by the late Wally Parks during the opening ceremony at the first California Hot Rod Reunion held at  Bakersfield in 1992.

1954 Glass Slipper entered by Ed Cortopassi of Elk Grove, California
The car was constructed by Ed and Roy Cortopassi and Doug Butler of Sacramento, California.  It is believed to be the first dragster to combine a fibreglass body, an aluminium frame and an enclosed canopy.  It reached 181 mph on the Bonneville salt flats in 1955 using a Ford Flathead engine.  In 1958 it took part in an FIA International Acceleration Records meeting at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California and clocked a terminal speed of 168.85 mph over the standing start kilometre.  It was voted America's Most Beautiful Competition Car at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1957.

1958 Hustler I entered by Art Chrisman of Santa Ana, California
Art Chrisman built this car in conjunction with his brother Lloyd and benefactor Frank Cannon.  It featured a 400 cubic inch blown Chrysler Hemi.  In January 1959 Chrisman became the first West Coast driver to exceed 180 mph with an 8.54 second 181.81 mph lap at Riverside Raceway.  This milestone was quickly backed up when the car won the inaugural US Fuel and Gas Championship at Bakersfield thus establishing superchargers as the way to go.  The car was restored in 1989 and has been a favourite at the NHRA Hot Rod Reunions ever since.

1961 Mooneyes Dragmaster entered by Shigehiro Suganuma of Sante F� Springs, California
Dean Moon constructed the Mooneyes dragster from a Dragmaster kit.  It appeared at the 1961 NHRA Nationals when Dante Deuce ran 10.29 seconds at 147 mph.  It was fitted with a top-mounted blower in 1962 and won the NHRA Winternationals with Gary Cayle driving with a best lap of 9.52/153.06.  Mooneyes appeared at the 1963 Brighton Speed Trials at the invitation of Sydney Allard along with Mickey Thompson's Harvey Aluminium Special.

1961 Showboat entered by Ralph Whitworth of San Diego, California
The pictured car is actually a replica of the original which was built by 'TV' Tommy Ivo in 1961.  Showboat is probably the most successful and spectacular exhibition dragster ever built.  The car was the original 4 x 4 - four injected 'Nailhead' V8s were used and the car was four-wheel drive which enabled it to blaze all four slicks for the entire quarter mile (perhaps that should be 4 x 4 x 4?).  Its best time was 8.12 seconds at 195 mph, it must have been quite a sight.

1962 Barnstormer entered by Ron Johnson of Escondido, California
Barnstormer was another of Tommy Ivo's cars.  He built the chassis with Rod Peppmuller and it was used as the prototype for more than a dozen others.  Barnstormer ran the first ever seven second run after only a few passes, and was the first to record 190+ mph runs at several of the West Coast strips.  It ran all over the USA until it was retired in March 1965.  Along the way it starred in the movie Bikini Beach and ran at the 1964 Dragfest held at Blackbushe Aerodrome.

1963 The Charlie Bang Special entered by Dean Butler of Droitwich, Worcestershire
This Ford flathead-powered dragster was built by Charles 'Charlie' Bang of Cincinnati, Ohio.  The majority of the flathead cars of the era were capable of mid-ten second passes whereas The Charlie Bang Special ran as low as 10.36 seconds at 132 mph and was a consistent winner in NHRA class D.  Dean Butler acquired the car from Charlie Bang and commissioned him to restore it to the superb condition it is in today.

1968 The Addict entered by Rocky Childs of Mission Hills, California
The original version of The Addict was built by Rocky Childs and Jim Albert in 1965.  In 1968 they came out with an improved version powered by a 6.4 litre Chrysler Hemi which is pictured below.  The car's best result was runner-up at the 1968 NHRA Winternationals with a 7.4/215.84 clocking.  Rocky Childs tracked down the car in 2001 and restored it and it now regularly appears at the hugely popular California Hot Rod Reunion's cacklefests.

1969 Beebe & Mulligan Fighting Irish entered by David West of Paso Robles, California
Tim 'Chops' Beebe and John 'The Zookeeper' Mulligan were one of the most successful Top Fuel teams of the period.  Mulligan was a highly accomplished driver who put down four of the fastest times in 1968 and set a new terminal speed record of 229.59 mph which, incredibly, could not beaten until July 1970.  He ran  a fantastic 6.43 second elapsed time which also stood as the national record for over a year.  John Mulligan crashed at the 1969 NHRA Nationals at Indianapolis and died of his injuries.  The car pictured below is a replica and is a tribute to its original creators Beebe and Mulligan.

1969 Howard Cams Rattler entered by The Wally Parks NHRA Motor Sports Museum, Pomona, California
The Howard Cams Rattler was built by Danny Porche, Jerry Johansen and Ed Osapian and was powered by a 392 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi.  Rick Ramsey drove the car initially but Larry Dixon was the shoe for the majority of the time up to 1972 when it was sold.  In 1969 it won the NHRA Winternationals, the Hot Rod Magazine Championship, and the PDA Championship.  Its best performance was 6.42 seconds at 229 mph.  It was found in Washington state and was restored by Brett Johansen, Nick Arias Jr. and Nick Arias III.

1979 Over the Hill Gang entered by The Wally Parks NHRA Motor Sports Museum, Pomona, California
The Over the Hill Gang was built to compete in Top Fuel and with its 8 litre Arias Hemi Chevy won no less than four NHRA national events in 1979 including the Silver Anniversary US Nationals.  It was then converted to a Top Alcohol car and was again victorious at the 1988 US Nationals.  Its final racing incarnation was as a Super Comp dragster and in this form it won the 1996 NHRA Finals.  What a fantastic record for a racing car.  The car was restored by Mike Fennel Enterprises and donated to The Wally Parks NHRA Museum by Tom and Pat Curnow of Walnut, California.  The Over the Hill Gang's best performance was a sizzling 5.81 seconds, the best terminal speed recorded was 245.23 mph.

This fascinating collection of cars shows how rapidly the design of Top Fuel Dragsters progressed.  In the 1950s the cars were really modified lakesters and had yet to take on the distinctive dragster appearance.  In the 1960s the design of slingshot dragsters became longer, lower and more graceful reaching what many people regard as the classic form represented by Rattler and Fighting Irish.  But like the dinosaurs, they died out almost overnight and were swept away by those new-fangled rear engined cars which still dominate today.

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(First posted 14 July 2008)