We have learned from a trusted source that Mopar is in the finishing and final testing phases of an all new funny car body for their NHRA teams. This body will be a “Dodge Dart” based piece to replace the Charger bodies that Mopar teams have been running for several seasons now. This means racers like Capps, Hagan, and others will be enclosed in “Dart” bodies in a couple of months if the time schedule we have heard holds up. There have been no leaked photos of the body as of yet but our understanding is that Mopar/Chrysler engineers are working on the final wind tunnel adjustments to the piece before it is produced in volume and sent to teams.
Save us the “they look nothing like real cars” stories because we know. We’re not expecting for the new Dart body to look much like a production car. What’s interesting about these bodies is that they’re all very aerodynamic and any time a team of factory engineers is working on a project like this you know that there will be improvement over the existing Mopar body and probably over all of the bodies out there on the tour today.
As soon as we can get our grubby mitts on photos we will share them with you. The fact is, we’re NOT supposed to even know this project is going on and there will probably be a person or three at Mopar slightly torqued that we’re even talking about it. All that said…we think it is cool that the Mopar teams will have some fresh skins after years of being in their (now aged) Charger bodies!
HERE’S A PICTURE OF A DART TO FILL THIS SPACE –
I’d been really hoping for a Funny Car body based off the new Challenger
Ditto. As well as hoping that the Dart would become an AWD rally rocket that could go scare Subarus. What happened to that plan, SRT?
Yeah, I don’t recall ever hearing much of Travis Pastrana’s Rallycross Dart after the unveiling.
Well, we already know that Jeggy and AJ will be running PS Dart bodies, too coll that Mopar is even stepping up for FC. I along with my fellow Dart club, #DartsofOhio, are super stoked to see this happen, anticipation abounds that this will boost sales in the consumer market. Wsy to go Dodge and Mopar!
Chrysler actually produces the Funny Car bodies? Really?
Yes, really. Go to this link and scroll to page 208. Tell me what part number P5155205 is
http://www.mopar.com/assets/pdf/performance/catalog/Drag_Racing.pdf
Son-a-Davinci! I guess I learned something new!
I looked at page 208 (actually page 14 of 16 of the pdf) and there’s a part number for a Charger body.
Un-knowing me assumed (I know, I know) there was simply a set of dimensions and a suggested shape for funny car bodies which were then layed up by outside manufacturers or team shops.
Thanks for the lesson, Brian.
By the way, your dog took off outside with your Boston baseball cap!