When Funny Cars had names
There was a time when a catchy name was just as important to a fun car driver as a supercharger and nitro. A car would not run faster with a memorable name, but it did ensure profitable race bookings. Match racing paid the bills, so racing teams put a lot of effort into creating unforgettable names.
Of course dragsters and gassers had names, long before the first fun car hit the track. Teams that switched to the profitable fun car ranges brought their old names with them. Roland Leong retained the Hawaiian label, made famous by his dragsters, on many successful flops. Connie Kalitta used the name Bounty Hunter on her rails before adopting the title for her fun car. Stone, Woods and Cook recycled the name of one of their gassers for the fun car in Dark Horse 2. When an accident destroyed that car, they built a near-clone of the original Mustang. Instead of calling the new car Dark Horse 3, they named it The Ghost of Dark Horse 2.
The names of the racing cars were inspired by events, activities, and ideas. Roger Lindamood chose the title of a county pop song to grace his car. The song soon faded into obscurity, but for over a decade Lindamood fans continued to cheer for the car known as Color Me Gone.
The Blue Max was as much a movie as it was a famous German WWI metal. It was also a much feared funny car that Raymond Beadle campaigned for.
Ford’s Mustang inspired numerous horse-related names, including Trojan Horse, Boss Hoss, Stampede, and Warhorse.
The most popular funny car driver of all time was Russell James Liberman. He first gained fame as the driver of Lew Arlington’s Brutus GTO, but soon began touring in his own car. Although Liberman’s cars name was Jungle Jim, his fans and peers gave him Elvis status and always referred to him as Jungle.
As teams began adding superchargers to their cars, a number of names appeared that began with the term “Super”; Super Cuda, Super Duster, Super Camaro, Super Stang, Super Bug, Super Charger and others.
While “shaker” was originally a slang term for Chevrolet, it was a popular name across all brands of floppers. Al Bergler ran Vega, Mustang and Corvette versions of the Motown Shaker. Similarly, Hubert Platt campaigned his Georgia Shaker like Chevy and Ford. Other variations included the Boston Shaker, Bear Town Shaker, and Bluegrass Shaker.
Probably the most famous cocktail shaker was Seaton’s Shaker, owned by Pete Seaton. When he added a blower, he updated the name to Seaton’s Super Shaker. Driver Terry Hedrick acquired the car when Seaton retired. He shortened the name to Super Shaker, a combination of two of the most popular flopper names.
Most drivers kept the same name when they built a new car. Once a name was established, the racers wanted to retain the loyalty of the fans. One man who bucked this trend was Arnie “the Farmer” Beswick. Although Beswick was known as the Farmer, each of his racing cars had a unique name. These names included Tameless Tiger, Star of the Circuit, Super Judge, and Boss Bird.
Don Prudhomme, was known as the “Serpent”. His most successful funny cars were sponsored by the US Army. While the white floppers weren’t actually called Army, a large number of fans paid big bucks to see that “Army Car” in action.
It would take a good-sized book to contain a complete list of funny car names. The stories behind Virginia Twister, Secret Weapon, Yankee Peddler, Warlord, Destroyer, and Eastern Raider will have to wait for another time.
So what happened? Why don’t funny cars have names anymore? One of the reasons is that match-racing is no longer viable. Instead of racing several times a week on small, out-of-the-way tracks, today’s touring professionals focus on the big national events.
Today, there are a multitude of great races, many with full television coverage. Instead of running for appearance money, today’s heroes rely on sponsorship to pay their salaries. There is no need for an exhilarating car name anymore.
Second, these corporate sponsorship deals involve large sums of money, and it’s hard to find a willing sponsor. Sponsors who spend a lot of money to put their name on a race car don’t want to share the flanks of the car with a nickname. When it comes to a name or a lucrative endorsement deal, teams always go for the money.
I guess that’s progress. Still, I’m glad I was active in the days when the fun cars were Vicious, Hairy, Candid, and 2 Much.