''Pawnbroker'' is a pioneering rear-engined
dragster built in 1969.
History
In 1969, prodded to action by the death of
John Mulligan earlier in the year,
Woody Gilmore (following the mid-engined
Funny Car he built for
Doug Thorley Doug Thorley was an American Funny Car drag racer, hot rodder and businessman. In 1967, he won the NHRA Nationals' first Funny Car Eliminator title, and was given ''Car Craft''s All-Star Drag Racing Team Funny Car Driver of the Year Award in 1968 ...
) and
Pat Foster developed a rear-engined fuel dragster, which was unveiled in December. Gilmore and Foster built a similar car for
Dwane Ong Dwane is a given name and an alternative spelling of Duane, Dwayne, Dewayne, Dwain, Dwaine and similar.
Notable people by that name include:
* Dwane Casey
* Dwane Husbands
* Dwane Lee
* Dwane Morrison
* Dwane Wallace
Dwane Leon Wallace (Octob ...
, incorporating the lessons of the previous car; vertical struts, with no wing (yet), prevented side-to-side motion. Powered by a
Ramchargers-built engine, ''Pawnbroker'' ran -wide
M&H slicks on -wide rims, rather than the usual and widths.
Sponsored by
Hastings Manufacturing's oil additive, Torque, it debuted in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
, in 1970, and wore
livery of white overall with red and blue longitudinal stripes along the si.
In August, Ong won the
1970 AHRA Nationals
Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 '' Ab urbe con ...
in the car.
''Pawnbroker'' won the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA)
Summernats
Summernats (a portmanteau of "Summer" and "National"), is an annual car festival held in Canberra, Australia since 1987, except 2021. Summernats, which is usually held at the start of the year, is the best known specialist car enthusias ...
in
Long Island, New York, the first national event win for a rear-engined car, with a pass of 6.83 at . Ong ran the car mostly at AHRA events before switching back to Funny Car.
[Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Front to back: The rear-engine transition", written 20 February 2015, a]
NHRA.com
(retrieved 1 November 2018)
Notes
1970s cars
Drag racing cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
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