Autoblog

You're Gonna Need That: Drag racer loses steering wheel while underway

Jeff Glucker — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:55:00 EST

Drag racer loses steering wheel - Click above to watch video after the jump

Drag racing is about being the fastest person to go from one point to another in a straight line. Despite the lack of turns involved, drag racers still need a steering wheel to maneuver their vehicles to and from the track, and to keep the front-end pointing in the right direction when blasting away from the tree. What would happen if the tiller decided to separate itself from the steering column?

One racer found out, and was pretty lucky with the answer he received. Click past the jump to see the clip.

Continue reading You're Gonna Need That: Drag racer loses steering wheel while underway

You're Gonna Need That: Drag racer loses steering wheel while underway originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Sunday! Sunday!! Sunday!!! Witness the incredible ManEater funny car!

Zach Bowman — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Safety, Videos, Racing

Funny car checkup yields some unexpected excitement - Click above to watch video after the jump

If you aren't terrified on some primordial level of the funny car drag racing class, odds are it's only a matter of time before natural selection comes a-callin'. Most funnies run a variation on the 500 cubic-inch, supercharged big-block formula while slurping down nitromethane/methanol fuel by the drum. No one's exactly sure how much power these suckers dish out, but estimates in the 8,000 pony range are typically considered conservative. Yeah. Wrap your noggin around that one for half a second. The whole concoction is designed to hold together just long enough scoot down the eighth or quarter mile, so it should come as no surprise that accidents happen.

We don't want to blow the surprise for you (you'll have to watch the video for that), but according to the video's YouTube comments, the son of the driver was beginning to check his dad's car over one last time when the vehicle's supercharger broke a stud. Hit the jump to see what happened next.

[Source: YouTube via CarDomain]

Continue reading Video: Sunday! Sunday!! Sunday!!! Witness the incredible ManEater funny car!

Video: Sunday! Sunday!! Sunday!!! Witness the incredible ManEater funny car! originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Dana Point Concours: Don "The Snake" Prudhomme tribute

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:19:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Celebrities

Don Prudhomme's 1974 Army sponsored Chevrolet Vega funny car - Click above for high-res image gallery

The 28th Annual Dana Point Concours d'Elegance took place this past Sunday and once again found the Monarch Beach Golf Links at the St. Regis Resort to be a perfect venue. As beautiful as the resort is, though, we were a bit perplexed to hear visitors talking so openly and enthusiastically about all of the snakes they had been seeing there.

"Did you see The Snake? There are four snakes up on the hill! The Snake was riding around in a golf cart a few minutes ago, make sure you go see him."

The well-traveled Reptilia was none other than Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, the honorary chairman of this year's concours. "The Snake" didn't come empty-handed to this party either. No, he brought with him a quartet of his funky funny cars from the 1970s, including the sole remaining Mattel Hot Wheels 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Funny Car that became famous during the "Snake vs. Mongoose" match races between Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. Back in the day, these two warriors famously squared off in match races across the country while also making countless appearances at toy stores, retail outlets and other locations.

The Barracuda was parked atop the same 1967 Dodge D-700 crew cab Hot Wheels Ramp Truck that was used to transport the race car on that promotional tour. The gorgeous yellow duo emerged from frame-off restorations just in time for SEMA last year, and seeing it there instantly transported us back to our youths, when our Hot Wheels checklist included not only this screaming yellow Plymouth, but Prudhomme's red, white and blue Hot Wheels and ARMY cars as well. Imagine our delight, then, when we saw some of those cars parked right alongside the Baracuda and transport in Dana Point on Sunday.

Front and center sat the white 1972 Hot Wheels sponsored Plymouth 'Cuda funny car, to its left the 1974 Army sponsored Chevrolet Vega funny car and to the right the 1978 Army Plymouth Arrow funny car which proudly carries the "Number 1," reflecting Prudhomme's fourth consecutive NHRA World Championship season. The Snake himself was also part of the attraction on Sunday, recounting old racing tales and signing autographs for the masses. He even took a few minutes to visit with the Cagahys, a couple who happened to bring their own Prudhomme car to the event - a 2009 Shelby Mustang Prudhomme Edition. We took lots of pics, which you can check out in the gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Dana Point Concours – Don Prudhomme

2010 Dana Point Concours: Don "The Snake" Prudhomme tribute originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA 2009: 1951 Henry J gasser is a 7-second blast from the past

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, SEMA Show, Coupe, Performance

1951 Kaiser Henry J - Click above for high-res image gallery

Here's another black beauty that caught our attention in the halls of SEMA 2009. It's a 1951 Kaiser Henry J owned and raced by Chris Beanes of California.

Running in A/Gas, this gloss-free gasser can storm the quarter in the mid-7s at better than 174 MPH. We read somewhere that it's powered by a Chevy 400 that's backed by a four-speed transmission, but other than that we don't have a lot more details. What we do have are a few pics in the gallery below that hopefully capture the magic of this nostalgic dragster.

Gallery: SEMA 2009: 1951 Henry J gasser

SEMA 2009: 1951 Henry J gasser is a 7-second blast from the past originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA 2008: Drag-racing limbo truck confuses, amuses

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:28:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Truck, Lifestyle

Click above for high-res gallery of this really low drag truck

How low can you go? When we first walked past this booth at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, we thought the convention hall floor had turned to quicksand. We are in the desert after all. Then we figured out what we were really seeing: a completely slammed truck that could win just about any quarter-mile limbo contest. It's literally knee-high to a grasshopper and powered by an Apollo rocket. Draggers, Inc., Go-EZ and Air-Zenith all share responsibility for this incredible piece of pickup passion. It's right-hand drive, lower than low and has one heck of a huge motor in it, and that's about all we know. Check out the gallery for a bunch of high-res pics.

Gallery: SEMA 2008: Air-Zenith slammed pickup

SEMA 2008: Drag-racing limbo truck confuses, amuses originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More pics of the new Mustang FR500CJ Cobra Jet

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:31:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Ford

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ford Mustang FR500CJ Cobra Jet

We first told you about Ford's new Mustang Cobra Jet factory drag car in June of 2007 and last week Ford posted a video on YouTube of a test session with the new car showing its stuff at Milan DragWay. Now we've received some fresh high-res pics of the Cobra Jet in our inbox from Ford. Last we heard Ford is only building 50 of these drag race specials all of which are powered by a blown 5.4-liter 32-valve V8 based on the GT500 motor. This engine has been breathed on a little more heavily then the GT500 and the car looks like it's been stripped down. With the usual drag combo of skinny front and fat rear tires, this Cobra looks like it might be a contender.

Gallery: Ford Mustang FR500CJ Cobra Jet

More pics of the new Mustang FR500CJ Cobra Jet originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HKS R33 Skyline Drag GT-R heads to retirement

Alex Nunez — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:12:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Performance, Nissan

I'll admit it. The first exposure I had to the HKS R33 Nissan Skyline drag racer pictured above was when I won it as a prize car in the monumentally great Gran Turismo 2 for the original Playstation. That was 1999 or 2000, and sadly, despite the car's formidable in-game stats, it was a bit of a drag (no pun intended) to play with because the dragstrip was not included in the U.S. release of the game. (Suffice to say the car was not the most awesome thing to use at Laguna Seca, for example.)

Pity, because the real-life HKS drag car certainly walked the walk. In 2001, it made a 7.671-second run in Japan, setting a record for AWD cars that stood for several years. HKS announced this week that after years of entertaining fans, the car is being officially retired. It'll be displayed at an import drag event in New Zealand in February, after which it'll head home to Japan for good. Initially, HKS planned to rebuild and race the car at the NZ event, but they discovered that there was a lack of replacement parts for it and that the car's chassis has weakened over the years to the point where they felt it could no longer be raced safely without being completely redone. That, combined with the dearth of proper parts, made the HKS decision easy.

Follow the jump for a shot of how many of us first experienced this car, along with a 2002 video of the car in action and HKS's official press release.

Don't miss the video. Like I said at the top, that thing sure as hell walked the walk.

[Sources: HKS, YouTube]

Continue reading HKS R33 Skyline Drag GT-R heads to retirement

HKS R33 Skyline Drag GT-R heads to retirement originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: BikiniRacer 2006 highlights

Frank Filipponio — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:02:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

One of our favorite models from this year's show circuit was Anna Comingore at the VIP Auto Fashion Show. Anna's nickname is Bikini Racer. We know what the "Bikini" stands for. Anna has won her fair share of modeling trophies, and deservedly so. So what does the "Racer" part refer to? You can be forgiven for thinking so because of the bikini association, but it doesn't refer to swimming. No, you see, Anna campaigns a Toyota Supra Turbo drag racer. And she did pretty well this year, finishing 2nd out of a field of 16 nationally in the NDR NOPI Chic class, and winning Stock Twin Turbo outright at TX2K6, the Supra Nationals. Along the way she managed a best time of 11.55 @ 120 mph! Pretty impressive. Well, Anna remembered us from VIP and wanted us to know she put together a video montage of the highlights from her 2006 season, both on and off the track. Thanks, Anna. Click away after the jump and enjoy.

[Source: BikiniRacer]

Continue reading VIDEO: BikiniRacer 2006 highlights

VIDEO: BikiniRacer 2006 highlights originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Find of the Day: 1959 BMW Isetta drag racer

Stuart Waterman — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:57:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., BMW

Browsing the inventory of The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, we ran across this little beast. Based on BMW's Isetta 3-wheeler, a car barely able to get out of its own way, Weiner's Isetta "Whatta Drag" is, um, considerably quicker than the original model.

A case of life imitating art (or in this case, imitating toys), the Isetta thrill-ride is inspired by a Hot Wheels toy of the same name. Powered by a blown Chevy 502 cubic inch V8 putting out an estimated 730 hp, and weighing all of 1520 lb., we can assume that the demon Isetta has inspiring acceleration capabilities. Although the museum doesn't cite performance figures for the car, it's described as "very very fast" and "very very loud," and we believe it. Top speed is listed as "unknown," which could well mean that the museum has yet to find anyone willing to fully explore the car's performance envelope.

The Whatta Drag Isetta is described as able to "smoke any other microcar out there," and we don't doubt it for a moment. And with 730 hp driving just one 285/35 rear tire, we're betting that "smoke" would be the operative word... And of course, where there's smoke there's fire - the car is fitted with a switch that lets the driver throw flames out about 4 feet on each side.

More pics after the jump! Follow the link to browse the museum's collection - it's an amazing place.

[Source: The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum]

Continue reading Find of the Day: 1959 BMW Isetta drag racer

Find of the Day: 1959 BMW Isetta drag racer originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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