We've had plenty of weird and wonderful creations from the Readers' Cars section of the forums over the years, but this might be the best yet. PHer NFC 85 Vette is no stranger to building drag cars, but its his latest project that's caught our eye. According to the man himself, his brief was to create "as period correct a 70's Funny Car as possible, while adhering to the current Nostalgia Funny Car regulations".
For those unfamiliar (us included) Nostalgia Funny Car is essentially what it sounds like: a drag racing series in which retro-looking Funny Cars - a class of drag racer featuring a lightweight body shell atop a custom-fabricated steel chassis - race over the quarter mile.
The Nitro moniker comes from the car's Nitromethane fuel, not because of Nitrous Oxide injection, which is in fact banned in the series. The rules also mandating features like a single fuel pump, the sole use of one Roots-type supercharger, four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a two-speed transmission.
The engine is what really sets a Funny Car apart, though. In this case it's based on a 426 Hemi, although one substantially uprated with aftermarket parts to improve durability. That single fuel pump forces 21 gallons of fuel per minute into the unit, with peak revs arriving between 8-9000rpm and an output of roughly 3,500hp and 2,500lb ft of torque. This is enough to propel the Funny Car to a very serious 235mph, completing the quarter mile in just six seconds.
"It's all as it would have been in the 70's, but with better quality materials", says the man behind the project. And how many other modern racing series do we wish that were true for?
Read the full thread here.
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