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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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The late Anders Hasselstrom's Flygvapnet funny car was sponsored by the Swedish Air Force. It is seen here, as in the two pictures below, in the pits at Santa Pod Raceway. Notice the spare block in the foreground - I bet a lot of the UK teams would have liked the idea of this if they could have afforded it. |
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Flygvapnet has undergone a change of appearance in this later shot of the car as it sits in the sunshine. |
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Yet another change of paint for Flygvapnet. |
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Nobby Hills' Houndog 10 funny car in the pits at Santa Pod. |
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Owen Hayward burning out, rather modestly by his standards, in Houndog 10 at the Pod. |
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This is the first of a number of shots of visiting US drivers all taken at Santa Pod. Here is Gene Snow's Snowman funny car. |
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Another shot of the Plymouth Arrow-bodied Snowman, this time from the side. |
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Raymond Beadle burning out in his Blue Max funny car. This was a lovely car but, to my eye, could not match the paintwork on the original car which was my all-time favourite. |
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Now this really is a sight to savour! Two top American drivers and cars in stage and about to race one another. On the basis of some notes kindly sent to me by Andy Barrack, I think this shot was taken at the 1979 Big Go held over the Whitsun weekend. Martin Collier says that this race was won by Beadle at 6.00 seconds to Snow's 6.04 which was said to be the fastest side-by-side funny car race in the world at that time. |
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Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme's all-conquering US Army-sponsored car gets a tow up the strip. Unfortunately it doesn't seem up to conquering anything in this picture. |
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Last but certainly not least of the US contingent is Tom Hoover's Showtime Corvette bodied funny pictured in the pits. |
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Back to the UK competitors and another chance to see Paul Manders' Mach 1 Mustang very appropriately called Time & Motion. I believe this car was supported in some way by Santa Pod Raceway. |
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This is Hazze Fromm's Ragnarok funny car at Santa Pod. |
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'Bootsie' Herridge is seen here burning out in his Gladiator (Mark II) funny car. |
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I bow to no man in my admiration of Allan Herridge's driving ability which was second to none in my opinion. His taste in paint jobs is another matter though - look what has happened to the poor old Gladiator car since the last shot was taken. |
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This is the ex-Sneaky Gloworm funny car of Phil Elson now in the hands of Graham Stockley and re-named Entertainer. |
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Roland Larsson and Ake Ryman's Canon sponsored car pictured at the Pod. |
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Bill Sherratt's Cannonball car which I think was the ex-Don Prudhomme US Army-sponsored car. The car was named Cannonball after the film called The Cannonball Run which featured a race across the USA. This gave rise to a drag race where three passes were made and the times were aggregated with the quickest two racing in the final. |
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The late Tony Boden imported this funny car from the States and re-named it The Hit Man. This picture was taken at a National Drag Racing Club meeting at Long Marston. |
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Chris Filsell's Grass Cutter being towed in the pits at Santa Pod. Andy Barrack's notes confirm my suspicion that this car is a re-worked Snowman (see picture above). This shot was taken in June 1983. |
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Roaring Thunder was the name of this Kenworth truck-inspired creation by Santa Pod Raceway. Dick Thompson thinks that the driver at the time this picture was taken was most likely Chris Filsell, although it was subsequently driven by Geoff Bosworth. This must surely be the most un-aerodynamic funny car ever created. This picture of the car dates from April 1983. |
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American Graffiti was driven by Harlan Thompson, it is seen here in the pits at Santa Pod. |
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