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Topic starter
19/05/2022 9:53 am
Dick Landy's A/FX 1965 Dodge Coronet altered-wheelbase 426 Hemi drag car ushered in the age of funny cars which, in a few years, became outrageously funny. I just love the shape of those 1 year mid-sized Mopars. You know this car is old school when you read "Headers by Doug" I had a souped up Satellite cv back then. I think the altered wheelbase look made them look even more badass. I just found some of my college notebooks and there were so many doodles of AWB Mopars where I should have been taking notes. Well, I paid the price and after 5 semesters, I found myself with a 1-A draft card. LOL And the rest, they say, is history.
Note how happy I look in this last picture. It was the last time I sat in the car. When I shipped out, my old man sold the car on me.
19/05/2022 10:33 am
I can relate Rich. When I went into the Navy I rented a garage for my 1956 Austin Healey. About six months later I got word that the old lady whose garage I rented was going into a nursing home and the family was selling the house. Sad to say the Healey was sold but I had no choice at the time. I loved that car and wish I had it today but I'm afraid that I would no longer fit into it.
19/05/2022 11:41 am
I remember when I saw the first AWB Mopar. At first, I couldn't identify specifically grasp what was done to make these cars look so different! They sure did look "Funny!" My first impression was that the car's trunk area was lengthened, and the front fenders were shortened. After further study, the truth of the altered wheelbase configuration emerged. Although I was a diehard Ford fan, and all Mopars were the "enemy," my fascination with the AWB couldn't be ignored. Dick Landy and Butch Leal became my "Mopar" favorites. Of course, I always wanted to see them lose to my Ford drivers, but I thought they had the best paint scheme liveries, and I couldn't help but become their fans as well.
The term "Funny Car" actually began with the '65 AWB Mopars. It was coined by Fran Hernandez, the Mercury Drag Racing Chief. When he first saw the AWB cars, he said they looked "funny." The term caught on, and all AWB cars were called "Funny Cars." The following year, 1966, the funny car craze really took off, and a wide variety of configurations emerged. Funny cars were altered wheelbase, mid-engine (we mistakenly called them rear engine cars), flip-tops, roadsters, and longnose. The Logghe Brothers were commissioned to create the Mercury tube-frame flip-tops, which due to their overwhelming superior performance, that configuration became the forbearer of the modern funny car. However, it is fair to say that the Chrysler Corporation started it all with the radical altered wheelbase Plymouths and Dodges.
And a little Photoshop fun!
Topic starter
19/05/2022 12:52 pm
@marty-johnson WOW!!! That's pretty cool. YOUR AWB mode of my old Satellite looks perfect. I see you also have that GMP drag strip diorama. I have that and the SoCal coupe Salt Flats dio. They're great for picture taking but too darned big to display.
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19/05/2022 8:48 pm
First off, I thank both you gentlemen... Richard, Robert.... for your service. Secondly, great pics all the way around, including Marty's trickery. Lastly... and I realize Bob had no choice but to sell his car....but Rich... YOUR DAD SOLD YOUR CAR? Was it his to sell? Was it a vindictive move? Were you angry? I simply can't imagine 🤨 🤔 😐 🤨 🤔 😐 😶 🙄
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