Jack Chrisman's 1965 Comet - The World's First Funny Car
126.4 هزار بار بازدید -
6 سال پیش
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Jack Chrisman was a drag
Jack Chrisman was a drag racing pioneer. He raced a brand new 1964 Mercury Comet but wanted a supercharger and didn't care for the 4 speed gearbox. He wanted the horsepower of a dragster with the stock-appearing body of a Mercury Comet. In 1964, the Comet ran in the dragster class, and smoked the tires the entire length of the strip. For the 1965 season, Jack Chrisman toured the country with the Comet, now wearing updated 1965 bodywork. Match racing, exhibition runs and other non-official racing took place before any of the sanctioning bodies recognized this type of a car as a legitimate racer.
In 1965 trim, the Comet featured several fiberglass body parts, and lots of aluminum panels inside, which was not common for that era. The idea was to reduce weight, making the blown and nitro injected Ford 427ci SOHC (single overhead cam, also known as a "Cammer") engine even more potent. The engine is set back in the chassis 25 percent. This highly altered engine placement helped weight transfer and traction. Later, many A/FX cars had a wildly altered wheelbase, giving them the nickname "funny cars", a name that has stuck pretty well. Later in the 1960's, funny cars featured custom frames, lightweight one-piece bodies, and nitro injected engines, ranging from the SOHC seen here to Chrysler Hemi engines and Chevrolet Big Block engines. Today's funny cars don't have any personality, aside from the 10,000+ horsepower, but in the '60s, you could easily identify the bodies, which really gave the fans something to cheer about.
This particular car was restored many years ago by Jim Barillaro. He campaigned it at nostalgia drag racing events on the East Coast, but then retired the car for some time. Recently, the car has come out of hiding, and is now toured around by Jim's sons (Mike and Jim). This video was taken between rounds at the 2018 running of the Southeast Gassers Association race at Knoxville Dragstrip. While the Southeast Gassers Association concentrates mostly on the racing aspect of nostalgia drag cars, the tight knit group also loves to pay tribute to the legends of the sport, with displays like this nitro-burning Comet funny car...the world's first funny car. Listen as it cackles, and wait for a few whacks of the throttle.
In 1965 trim, the Comet featured several fiberglass body parts, and lots of aluminum panels inside, which was not common for that era. The idea was to reduce weight, making the blown and nitro injected Ford 427ci SOHC (single overhead cam, also known as a "Cammer") engine even more potent. The engine is set back in the chassis 25 percent. This highly altered engine placement helped weight transfer and traction. Later, many A/FX cars had a wildly altered wheelbase, giving them the nickname "funny cars", a name that has stuck pretty well. Later in the 1960's, funny cars featured custom frames, lightweight one-piece bodies, and nitro injected engines, ranging from the SOHC seen here to Chrysler Hemi engines and Chevrolet Big Block engines. Today's funny cars don't have any personality, aside from the 10,000+ horsepower, but in the '60s, you could easily identify the bodies, which really gave the fans something to cheer about.
This particular car was restored many years ago by Jim Barillaro. He campaigned it at nostalgia drag racing events on the East Coast, but then retired the car for some time. Recently, the car has come out of hiding, and is now toured around by Jim's sons (Mike and Jim). This video was taken between rounds at the 2018 running of the Southeast Gassers Association race at Knoxville Dragstrip. While the Southeast Gassers Association concentrates mostly on the racing aspect of nostalgia drag cars, the tight knit group also loves to pay tribute to the legends of the sport, with displays like this nitro-burning Comet funny car...the world's first funny car. Listen as it cackles, and wait for a few whacks of the throttle.
6 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1397/03/22 منتشر شده
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