And hear it run on Nitro! But is this really the very first Funny Car ever built? Well that is a debate we are not going to stop with this blog item or this video. The question as to who built the first Funny Car ever has been asked a bunch of times and the answers depend on who’s answering. Some believe the three Dodge Chargers from 1964 were the first, and some even think Dick Landy’s altered wheelbase ’64 Dodge was the first, but there are also those that believe the 1965 Dodges were the first Funny Cars. Plenty of others believe this is the one, but as I said there are lots of reasons to argue for one or the other. Regardless, this is a badass hot rod and the history behind it is special no matter what you call it.
Check out the video to see just how this famous ride went together, what it looks like up close, and what makes it special. It looks a lot like an old Super Stock car, but when it showed up it was put in the dragster class and ran low 10’s at over 156 mph. That’s something compared to everyone else, as the supercharged SOHC Cammer was a real screamer.
Watch the video to learn more.
They were called “Exhibition Match Racers” back then when it was new. Dodge had the “Dodge Chargers”, supercharged ’64 33 sedans, but this Merc was faster. Dodge wouldn’t run against it, only against each other.
It was NHRA tech who coined the term “funny car” when Mopar showed them the first AWB cars. One of the tech guys simply said, “Those sure are some funny looking cars”, and that’s how it started. It still took couple of years before that term became commonplace though. “Match Racer” and FX’er is what they were called. I never got to see this Comet run, but it is definitely a trend-setting bad hombre.
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I saw this car run in the late 80’s/ early 90’s at E-town (memory fog) and it sounded awesome! The car ran on nitro and made the sweetest sound!
I remember seeing an article about the car being retrieved from Stettler, Alberta area and taken back to the US to be restored, can’t tell you the exact year or in which issue, but it was in Super Stock & Drag Illustrated Magazine, sometime in the early eighties…
The car in the photo is the original, but – Original car was white and was a 1964. This car was painted red and has a 1965 front end on it. I did have a chance to see this car at Pomona some years ago. It just ran a few exhibition passes.