The Top 11 Best Funny Car Names By Brian Lohnes Posted 12/15/08
Racecar names are no longer the norm on modern nitro-burning Funny Cars, which sucks. Cars with names are good for promoters to put in their advertisements, good for racers who can cash in on merchandise, and good for fans who can clearly point to and remember a car and driver.
All of that stuff has been thrown out the window for corporate sponsorships, which we think is for the worse. That being said, there have been some great names on Funny Cars over the years. Here’s our list of the best 11 ever. Debate is not requested…it’s required.
11) Joe Jacono, Rollin’ Stoned. Could have the funniest paint job ever featuring a caveman with a club in one hand and a, umm, “hand rolled cigarette” in the other. Image NHRA brass taking a gander at that these days!
10) Raymond Beadle, The Blue Max. Bonus points if you know where the name came from.
9.) Don Schumacher, The Wonderwagon. Brilliant use of a sponsor name (Wonder bread) and logo to connect with fans.
8) Gene Beaver, The LA Hooker. Gene Beaver is John Force’s uncle, and he named this car to be the foil for the Chi-Town Hustler.
7) Roger Lindamood, Color Me Gone. That name stuck with Lindamood from his days in Stockers and Super Stockers all the way up to the nitro floppers.
6) Gene Ciambella, The Destroyer. This was a Jeep Funny Car that was not only scary to watch, but actually successful as a match racer in the hey day of '60s open match racing out West.
5) Gary Hazen, Panic! There were a bunch of Funny Cars with this name, both in and out of the US, but we still think it rules.
4) Roger Guzman, Assassination. Admit it, that word just sends shivers down your spine.
3) Richard Schroeder, Bad Bossa Nova. Every variant of using the word Nova on a race car has been beaten to death. Knowing that, we need to pay homage to the guy who started the trend. Schroeder is still touring the country in the Chevy Rebellion wheelstander.
2) Pat Minick, The Chi-Town Hustler. Austin Coil tuned it, John Farkonas worked primarily behind the scenes in an engineering capacity. The car was one of the great country wide match racers of all time. When Frank Hawley later became the driver it became a national championship winning car.
1) Lew Arrington, Brutus. Grunt it, say it, scream it. Sounds bad ass any way you choose doesn’t it? Lew Arrington established the name and then some wild kid from back east named Jim Liberman took the reigns and started his climb to super stardom.
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Written by ksj1 Dec 17 2008
How about Al(cant spell his last name) Flying Dutchman
Written by nitrosniffer Dec 17 2008
I got to see some of the very best beginning in 1968 at Pittsburgh International Dragway. Some of the best names were with the Coca Cola Cavalcade of Funny Car Stars, I just can't remember some of them. I followed the BB/FC's for a while as well, many cool names out there.
Bounty Huntress...Shirley
Super Duster....Billy Taylor
Brain Shaker....Mike Burns
Road Warrior...Gary Cellone
MegaForce....Don De Flutier
Bullet Bob....Bob Floch
Bad Moon Rising....
Written by SpiderGearsMan
Dec 17 2008
d a santucci black magic
jerry caminito blue thunder
chuck etchells future force
bobby lagana twilight zone [chevoom in 65 ]
don woosley ale 8 one
cape codder
arnie karp mountain dew boston strangler
richard bell - the bell boys
ace manzo construction
Written by homewrecker Dec 16 2008
omar THE TENTMAKER carruthers aa/fc in the 70's joplin mo
sam howard HOMEWRECKER BB/FC 70's joplin mo
Written by A/Fuel
Dec 16 2008
here is one i used to see as a kid.
[img]http://www.freewebs.com/alky1/Shaker.jpg[/img]
glacier shaker....
i have some old photos of his monza, but this one i found on line.
randy harris
Written by Freiburger
Dec 16 2008
No prob. Thanks for joining us.
Written by PatricksDad Dec 16 2008
[quote author=Freiburger link=topic=8084.msg157478#msg157478 date=1229396651]
Also see www.60sfunnycars.com
Those [i]WERE [/i]next week's time killers.
[/quote]
Sorry, man. ;D
Written by Cyclone03 Dec 16 2008
Didn't Jim Dunn Drive"Firemans Quicky"?
When I learned what a "quicky" was I just laughed everytime I saw that car.
Written by malc
Dec 15 2008
[quote author=Rebeldryver link=topic=8084.msg157341#msg157341 date=1229384635]
[quote author=malc link=topic=8084.msg157179#msg157179 date=1229371703]
[color=blue]Blue Max............film of the same name.[/color] 8)
[color=blue]Did?nt Hot Rod "road test" a "Zeppelin" around the time the film was released ?
Goose stepping staff and all.[/color] ;D
[/quote]
The Blue Max that the movie was about was the top medal giving only to the aces of Germany's flying corps of WWI.
[/quote]
[color=blue]That?s what I said diddle I, from the film of the same name ?
Blue Max was all the rage at the time, Red Baron etc.[/color]
Written by burnouts4life Dec 19 2008
The "Nitro Pimp" ;D