Looking Back on Hemi Cuda Funny Car Development   By Moore Good Ink Photos courtesy of Jim White Forty-eight years ago, toward the end of the 1965 drag racing season, Chrysler and their Southern Californian Plymouth Dealers Association underwrote the costs of constructing and operating a blown nitro 426cu in rear-engine Plymouth Hemi Barracuda Funny Car. The proposition that brought together the Chrysler Corporation and the Southern Californian Plymouth Dealers Association was conceived by the late Lou Baney. Lou, who was already running the Mongoose in the Yeakel Plymouth Center’s Fuel dragster, could see the potential for exploiting a new Hemi Barracuda Funny Car in exhibitions and match races. The moment was right and the deal was struck and B&M Automotive were contracted to construct the car, Dave Zeuschel to prepare the engine and Tom “Mongoose” McEwen to drive it.   The origins of the Funny Car The term Funny Car had derived from the appearance of Chrysler’s Ram Chargers a year earlier. The corporation’s competition department had moved the rear axle assembly forward on the chassis in an attempt to improve weight transfer under acceleration, thus increasing the...

By Ben Mozart Photos by Moore Good Ink Ever heard of a "dual clutch"? My experience with dual clutch systems is in Audi. Their DSG system makes your automatic feel like a manual, somewhat, with the goal of achieving faster shifts and a better feel. It also eliminates the torque converter. So when I read that Tremec made a dual clutch system, I had to know more... Here's a bit more info. Keep your fingers crossed this will appear in a hot rod Mustang near you! FOR ROAD-GOING CARS THE DUAL CLUTCH IS THE APPARATUS OF THE FUTURE. Equipped with two input shafts (one inside the other), torque interruptions are imperceptible during gear shifting. In fact its gear-shifting technology is so rapid the “head-bob” is eliminated. With half the gears on one main shaft and half on the other and a cluster between them, the dual clutch brings the two transmissions together. Odd number gears reside on one shaft, even number gears on the other. When shifting from one gear to the next the second gear is already pre-selected and the dual clutch operates in 200 milliseconds. For racing...

Valve-Lock Inspection to Save your Engine By Fergus Ogilvy Photos by Moore Good Ink   This advice may only help hard core race engine builders, but any time we have a chance to publish high quality tech like this info from Trend Performance, we'll do it. Wish I would have saw this before putting the valves back into my Falcon! (course that's anything but a racing engine!) Enjoy!   Assemble the valve locks on a valve and using your thumb and forefinger raise the spring retainer to its full height. If the assembly defies gravity and remains in place and doesn't rock, the quality of the valve locking assembly is superior. If, however, the assembly falls apart, the valve locking mechanism is deficient in one or more of its dimensions. The three critical dimensions of the valve lock 1. The outside angle: The precision of the outside angle, which might be 7, 8, 9, or even 10 degrees, is properly measured on a sine vice. For ease of valve lock removal, high revving racing engines often use locks with the greater angle. The greater the angle, however, the more...

Meet Uncle Jed: A Robert Killian creation aimed to run 200-plus mph Story by Ben Mozart Photographs by our friends at Moore Good Ink Now here's something you don't see every day! You've seen mash-ups of a pro-touring Mercury Comet, but this one's the ultimate combination of hot rod style and pro-style motivation. Robert Killian, you out did yourself! Robert Killian hails from Canton, Georgia. He’s been building hot rods for most his adult life, and he has always indulged himself in the unorthodox.   But when contemplating Uncle Jed he told his chassis builder, “Let’s have one last adventure into the unknown. I’m reaching a point in my life (58) when I don’t anticipate foolin’ with 200mph cars much longer.” So this was how he approached his latest creation: a 1,900hp big-inch Pro Stock-powered road-legal Rat Rod. “Mind you,” said Killian, “I’m hesitant about calling Uncle Jed a Rat Rod because some Rat Rodders take offense. They’re adamant that it’s not low-buck enough, but obviously there’s not enough gleaming paint on it to call it a hotrod.” So its genre is uncertain.   What is certain, however, is...

Ariel Atom Racer: Hit the Race Track! By Ben Mozart Photographs by our friends at Moore Good Ink If you're looking to get into racing, the Ariel Atom may be a great way to start. A fairly low cost, great power-to-weight ratio for a fun time, and a good looking package that'll fit my 6'4" frame! Check it out!   Alton, VA: Probably the most significant milestone in the past two years for Sportsman road racers, those who pay their own bills, is the introduction of the Spec:RaceAtom (SRA) which is a race-version based off the popular Ariel Atom 3 supercar. The Spec:RaceAtom (SRA) distinguishes itself in several extraordinary ways, not least by its unusual exoskeleton form. But its mesmerizingly rapid acceleration and its remarkable cornering power are attributes that need to be explored urgently.   Weighing 1315lbs, the SRA is extraordinarily light and having its transversely mounted engine and transmission positioned over the rear wheels ensures massive traction. In steady-state cornering, the car generates remarkable g-forces, measuring 1.7 to 1.8g. In its power-to weight ratio the SRA exceeds many modern supercars.   No wonder former NHRA Top Fuel...

Ford GT40's, Porsche's and Vintage Jag's Hit the Track Written by Vic Moore Photographs by our friends at Moore Good Ink When Vic told us about this event, of course we wanted pictures and info for MyRideisMe.com faithful. See, we're not just about hot rods!   Braselton, GA: Each year the Historic Sportscar Racing association (HSR) organizes the largest and oldest event for Historic race cars on the East Coast. It’s called the Walter Mitty and it takes place at Road Atlanta, usually in late April.     Founded by a group of Atlanta‐area racing devotees in the mid-1970s, the Mitty is a celebration of sports and racing cars from the 1950s through the Can-Am years to more recent times.   This year’s event, the Classic Motorsports 37th Mitty, took place on April 26-28, and had appointed former driver and now F1 television commentator for NBC David Hobbs as its Grand Master.   Ed Pink Racing Engines’ proprietor, the upbeat Tom Malloy reclining in his folding chair under his transporter awning said, “Come on in and take a look at my McLaren M8E, if you’d like.”   Here in...