DRAG RACING ---- Pic of the day, week, month, etc !!

[Scott Liggett]

Whoo HOO!.. What flavor, so I can enjoy it...

I think you need a cookie to match your personality, snickerdoodle.

[BigDad]

[Deaf Bob]

I think you need a cookie to match your personality, snickerdoodle.

Oooh, my favorite! Mmmm

[Joe Grippo]

[Brian Lohnes]

Volvo P1800 flopper?! Must be from England or Europe somewhere? (The Dunlop sign in the background has me thinking that, too). Ok, the dude's name is Leif...yeah. Norway, Sweden?

[groucho]

I won't say I'm "pro" foreign cars, BUT they made very interesting Funny Cars (the few that were made)

[Brian Lohnes]

Few? There have been lots!

The Datsun 280z was a really popular body (although those had some weird hex where they caught fire a lot).

[Joe Grippo]

CECIL COUNTY - 60'S - 021 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr


CECIL COUNTY - 60'S - 022 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr

[groucho]

Few? There have been lots!

The Datsun 280z was a really popular body (although those had some weird hex where they caught fire a lot).

I can't recall anything besides the Jag from the 60's. It really made an impression, as Funnies were pretty new at the time. I do remember the gold 69(?) Eldo Funny Car. Man, that was "the shit". Really stuck out in a crowd!

[John Brewer]

The guy who owned the Jag was Sheldon Konbelt (sp?),the owner of Service Center whose main store was in Compton. Before that, he had a full size '65 Galaxie F/C. Kinds strange, but he was having fun!

[Joe Grippo]

Bill Lawton

MAPLE GROVE - 70'S PRO STOCKS - 001 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr

Ken Dondero

MAPLE GROVE - 70'S PRO STOCKS - 003 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr

MAPLE GROVE - 70'S PRO STOCKS - 004 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr

Frank Iaconio

MAPLE GROVE - 70'S PRO STOCKS - 007 by Joe Grippo, on Flickr

[Brian Lohnes]

I can't recall anything besides the Jag from the 60's. It really made an impression, as Funnies were pretty new at the time. I do remember the gold 69(?) Eldo Funny Car. Man, that was "the shit". Really stuck out in a crowd!

Dave Zachary's Eldo flopper is one of the coolest of all time. Unfortunately he was killed in it which makes the story a lot less fun.

[groucho]

Dave Zachary's Eldo flopper is one of the coolest of all time. Unfortunately he was killed in it which makes the story a lot less fun.

That sucks. I did not know he died in that car

[Loren]

You'll have to get us the story of that sometime, Brian...along with how it might have contributed to better driver protection in drag cars! Man, I wouldn't have gone over 60 in that thing.

[Brian Lohnes]

The quick and dirty is that Zachary ran the car with the inject, nitro burning big block Chevy you see in the photos for a while and managed to get it down into the 9.70s. You have to remember, that is a STEEL body. Yes, he welded together a steel eldo body to make it one piece. Zachary was a body guy by trade. The thing that ended up killing Zachary was the fact that the body was so heavy, he had to build a flyweight chassis to keep the already porcine car from being battleship class in girth.

Zachary took the car to the west coast with the injected engine and quickly realized he was in too deep, so he went to Keith Black racing engines, bought a blown nitro motor, loaded his stuff up and went home to Indiana to get the car all together. He took it to Kentucky for a match race with the new engine and was killed on the first pass when the car flew in the lights and landed upside down.

The reality is that virtually anyone in a funny car suffering the same wreck would have been seriously injured or killed at that time. Zachary's car was an example of the days when "having a roll bar" was the rule, not having one built to specs or designs that had been proven. Not 100% sure this is accurate but what you see in that photo, I have been told, is muffler tubing.

Brian