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David Riswick is the head honcho at John Woolfe
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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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Avenger Funny Car Mk I |
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Have you ever wondered what a funny car looks like under construction? This is Dennis Priddle's first car being built in Pete Stanford's garage and filling station on the A30 just east of Yeovil. Dave thinks these pictures were taken in the late summer of 1973. |
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And here is the finished article resplendent in bright yellow paint in honour of the Shell Oil sponsorship. These are extremely rare pictures because the car only remained in this colour scheme for a few days. |
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Another shot of the car this time with the body down. These pictures were taken outside Pete Stanford's garage on the A30. You can see the main road behind the car, I would have thought that this was a very distracting sight for a passing motorist minding his own business . . . |
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This is the car's debut at Santa Pod Raceway on 21 October 1973, this was the one and only time it appeared in this colour scheme. |
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I thought that this was probably a unique picture of the car resplendent in Shell Sport sponsorship colours because the car never appeared in public like this. That was until Dennis Priddle lent me about 6 others, stay tuned! |
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A deal was struck with STP to sponsor both
the funny car and the Mr Revell top fuel dragster. Both cars had to be very
hastily re-painted to meet the deadline required by the sponsor. |
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This great leaving shot by Peter Quinn was taken at an NDRC meeting at Silverstone in 1974. |
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Avenger Funny Car Mk II |
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A brand new Avenger funny car was constructed by Dennis. The chassis of the old car was sold to Mike Hall to form the basis of a new Shutdown competition altered, whilst the body passed to the Hillbillies team to replace the Reliant Scimitar body shell on their funny car. |
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This picture of the car (and the two that follow) must have been taken shortly after its first outing as only the basic paintwork has been applied. The car first appeared at an NDRC meeting at Snetterton on 3 and 4 May 1975. This was the infamous meeting at which Liz Burn lost control of her top fuel dragster and collided with Dennis in his Mr Revell car. |
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Another great burn out shot by Peter Quinn. The new Avenger funny ran 6.9 seconds at its first appearance at Santa Pod which was the Whitsun Big Go held on 24, 25 and 26 May 1975. |
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Dennis launches the Avenger off the line using all the power of the alloy Donovan engine. |
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Monza Funny Car |
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Dennis Priddle's Monza bodied funny car is sandwiched between Raymond Beadle's Blue Max and Gene Snow's Snowman in this pre-race line up at Santa Pod Raceway in 1979. |
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Roger Gorringe captured this shot of Dennis burning out in typically exuberant style sometime in 1978. |
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I don't know about you, but I don't usually associate stately homes with funny cars. The JWR Monza is seen posed here at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire which was the venue for John Woolfe Racing's 20th anniversary celebrations held on 7 July 1988. |
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The remaining pictures on this page were taken on the occasion of the official opening of John Woolfe Racing's new facility at Shuttleworth Road in Bedford on 7 April 1978. Here Dennis is getting ready to terrify a few of the neighbours. |
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Beauty and the beast - Tina the Pro Trac tyres girl and the mighty Monza. |
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The Monza is fired up and all production in the vicinity comes to an abrupt halt. Team member Brian Savage is holding the bucket (well it's better than carrying the can). The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot Jim Read and Ian Messenger in the crowd. Long time Priddle supporter Roy Osborne of Insurance in Motion is standing right next to the wall. |
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Dennis Priddle flanked by the co-owners of John Woolfe Racing Arnold Burton (left) and Dave Riswick. |
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Dennis Priddle explaining to Arnold Burton that the big shiny thing is very powerful, very expensive and exceptionally noisy. |
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All material on this site is copyright |
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