When Funny Car had a name

There was a time when catchy names were as important to car drivers as superchargers and nitros. A car with an easy-to-remember name can’t run fast, but it has ensured a profitable match race reservation. Match racing paid a price, so the racing team put a lot of effort into creating an unforgettable name.

Of course, Dragster and Gasser had names long before the first funny car hit the truck. The team switching to a profitable and entertaining car rank brought the old name. Roland Leon held the Hawaiian label, which became famous for dragsters, on many successful flops. Connie Carita used the name Bounty Hunter on his rails before adopting his funny car title. Stone, Woods and Cook have recycled their names from one of the Dark Horse 2 Funny Car Gasser. When the collision destroyed the car, they made 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 name of the race car was inspired by events, activities and ideas. Roger Lindamood chose the pop county song title to decorate his car. The song quickly became ambiguous, but for more than a decade, Lindamood fans continued to support the car known as the Color Me Gone.

Bluemax was a movie and the famous German metal of World War I. It was also a very feared and entertaining car campaigned by Raymond Beadle.

The Ford Mustang influenced many horse-related names, including Trojan horses, Boss Hoss, Stampede, and Warhorse.

The most popular and entertaining car driver of all time was Russell James Lee Bellman. He first gained fame as the wheelman of Brutus GTO in Leuerlington, but soon began touring his car. Liberman’s car was named Jungle Gym, but his fans and associates gave him Elvis status and always called him the jungle.

As the team began adding superchargers to their cars, a rash with a name beginning with the term “super” appeared. Super Cuda, Super Duster, Super Camaro, Super Stan, Super Bug, Super Charger, etc.

“Shaker” was originally a Chevrolet slang term, but it was a common name for all types of flops. Albergler ran the Vega, Mustang and Corvette versions of the Motown shaker. Similarly, Hubert Platt campaigned his Georgia Shaker as both Chevy and Ford. Other variations include the Boston Shaker, Baretown Shaker, and Bluegrass Shaker.

Perhaps the most famous shaker was the Seaton shaker owned by Pete Seaton. When he added a blower, he updated his name to Seaton’s Super Shaker. Driver Terry Hedrick got the car when Seaton retired. He shortened the name to Super Shaker. This is the most popular combination of two flop names.

Most drivers kept the same name when they built a new car. Once the name was established, the racer wanted to maintain the loyalty of his fans. One man who countered this trend was Arnie “Farmer” Bezwick. Bezwick was known as Farmer, but each of his race cars had a unique name. These names included Tameless Tiger, Star of the Circuit, Super Judge, and Boss Bird.

Don Prudom was known as the “snake”. His most successful and entertaining car was sponsored by the US military. The white flop wasn’t really called the Army, but many fans paid a lot of money to see how the “Army car” worked.

To include a complete list of funny car names, you need a book of the right size. The story behind Virginia Twister, Secret Weapon, Yankee Pedler, Warlord, Destroyer, and Eastern Raider has to wait another time.

What’s wrong? Why are funny cars no longer named? One of the reasons is that match racing is no longer feasible. Today’s touring pros focus on big national events several times a week instead of racing on small, unobtrusive tracks.

There are many big races today, many of which are fully covered on TV. Today’s hero drivers rely on sponsorship to pay their salaries instead of running for money on their appearance. You don’t need an exciting car name anymore.

Second, these corporate sponsorship contracts contain large amounts of cash and it is difficult to find a voluntary sponsor. Sponsors who make a lot of money to name their race cars don’t want to share the sides of the car with their nicknames. When it comes to names and lucrative sponsorship deals, the team always spends cash.

I think it’s progress. Still, I’m glad I was able to play an active part in the days when Funny Car was Vicious, Hairy, Candid, 2 Much!