As you diehard BangShifters well know, we’ll be LIVE from the 2016 Good Vibrations March Meet at Bakersfield next weekend. That is one of the largest and most prestigious nostalgia drag races known to man and it also draws the cream of the nostalgia funny car crop out of the woodwork to compete. Anyone who has followed the nostalgia funny car world over the last few years knows that there has been a bit of a movement among some teams to move toward bodies that are more and more aerodynamic. The downside of that trend is that the cars look less and less like the machines that the class was originally designed to emulate. Les Mayhew has made a spectacular video that highlights this situation and he has titled it: Go! vs Woah!
If numbers are any sort of indication, the nostalgia funny car scene may have hit peak a couple of years ago when nearly 50 of the suckers showed up to the March Meet. As is always the case in virtually every class drag racing has ever had, a select few drive performances to a place where other feel that they can no longer compete and throw in the towel. We’re not blaming anyone here, it is the literal nature of the sport. Today’s crop of nostalgia nitro funny cars is at an interesting place in its evolution. Elapsed times and speeds have surpassed what anyone could have expected with the “movement” began years ago. So what happens next? Only time will really answer that question.
The most recent kerfuffle was a situation that arose with a car that is shown a bunch in this video. That machine is the Troy Lee Designs funny car of Ron and Ryan Hodgson. The Camaro body on the car is the most aero looking nostalgia funny car body that anyone had every seen when it rolled into the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion last year. The shouting began immediately.
Les takes a very even handed approach to this one. We get to see the progression of the cars over the years, hear the opinions of competitors, and see what the whole nostalgia funny car scene has gone through over the years. As is usually the case, we’re in love with this video. The masterful use of old footage and scenes to get the thing rolling at the beginning will make any hardcore fan of the sport gaze with starry eyes. Les Mayhew crushes it again.
The gate has been busted down , hard to go back to the sprit of the class now. And that makes me sad. Thanks Les for you’re GREAT work and bringing this up to be talked about.
NOBODY does it better than Les Mayhew.
Steve Gibbs is wrong !! They are not tough on the rules-Period !! The newer sloped bodies in NFC need to be taken out back of the tower and crushed !! Money will ruin this class too. Stop it NOW !! Yeh you STEVE!!
What’s the point of having nostalgia racing if they plan modernizing an old funny car.
It’s just an oxymoron now. Just sad.
Those long snouted cars, super narrow, wedge shaped sides, they aren’t nostalgia funnies at all. They suck.
They would have better crowds if they also went back to 1980/90 admission prices…
JASON R. IS THE JHON WAYNE OF NASTALGIA FUNNY CAR !!!!!!!!!!!!
those new bodies suck . Once again great subject and vid Mr Mayhew
This is easy,NFC bodies. Anything used before Bernstein’s “Tempo Bat Mobile”
The early 80’s Corvettes,Monzas, and Mustangs.
When I got the class started in 04 I tried to keep the class true Nostalgia but none of the competeters liked being beat by old iron and the Good Guys and NHRA just let everything slide for their buddies. For instance I won the championship in 04 with a blower that I paid $200 for but had to run it at 38% od to get any power so outlawing anything over 18% od required you now to buy a blower that is custom made and cost $10,000 to $15,000 and you have to carry at least 2 spares to compete. This is only one of the many items that make it strictly a money racing not FUN SPORT. That’s my opinion RW
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