70s Funny Cars Previous Qualifers: Australia
By David Cook and Danny White
Mick Atholwood’s second funny car was this sleek Corvette. The new car replaced his Chevy powered Torana. The Corvette was state of the art in Australia. The car had a Keith Black Hemi that replaced the Torana’s cast iron Chevy. Built in 1979, the Corvette ran six second times. The car is best remembered for flipping over on a burnout in 1981. The crash caused Atholwood to retire from driving. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Current alcohol funny car racer Jeff Burnett ended his fuel funny car career in this Mustang II. The "ABC Special" was built to replace Burnett’s overweight Charger. Jeff used the 392 Chrysler Hemi from the Charger to power the "Special." The Mustang II had a short life. After running as quick as 8.68, it was destroyed in a crash. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
The leading competitors in breaking the six-second barrier in Australia were Bob Dunn and Graeme Cowin. The similarities between Dunn and Cowin were uncanny. Both men had raced fuel altereds and then raced Hemi powered AA/FC Camaros. It was Bob Dunn who broke the barrier in the ex-Phoenix Camaro. Dunn had purchased the car from Lane, Pierce, and McCord after they had toured Australia. The Camaro replaced the former Gene Snow Charger that Dunn had been racing. By the time Bob Dunn retired, he had run a best of 6.71 in the Camaro. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
People will recognize the Dykes & Patterson Mustang II as Jeff Courtie’s former car. Patterson bought the Mustang II from Jeff Courtie to replace his aging 1973 Mustang. The other partner in the car, Peter Dykes, had previously raced both top fuel motorcycles and dragsters. Dykes, an Englishman, won the 1978 Nationals with the car. Dykes & Patterson sold the car to Dave Lomas who raced it as a BB/FC. Lomas sold it to Bob Honeybrook, who raced it as a BB/FC and as an AA/FC on a couple of occasions. The Mustang was raced into the 80s with many updates. Al Hofmann drove the updated car on one of his Australian tours. (Photo provided by David Cook; info from David Cook, Jeff Courtie, and Bob Honeybrook)
Jack McLeod was the hired gun for Graeme Cowin in the mid-seventies. Cowin had stepped out the driver’s seat after driving the Cowin & Johns Mustang. Cowin used the time off to build his High Performance World auto parts business. The High Performance World "Highway Patrol" Cuda was capable of low sevens. A new Camaro replaced the Cuda, but McLeod flipped it. This accident prompted Cowin to return to driving. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Bruce Phillips built the first flip top funny car in Australia, after being inspired by Jess Tyree’s machine when Tyree toured Australia. The Holden powered Torana was short on performance, but Phillips knew how to make up for that in showmanship. One thing you could say about Bruce Phillips is that he knew how to do a fire burnout! Phillips ceded the drivers seat to John Lumb. The car was updated over the years and finally sold to Neale Randall. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Neale Randall had been racing funny cars for a few years when he built this Arrow. Randall had raced a Torana, a Monza, and a Mustang with limited success. The new "Mr. Conversions" Arrow made Neale Randall a serious threat to win. The new Arrow not only got him his first six-second pass, but also got him a best time of 6.43 by 1981. The Arrow was replaced by new Horizon that raced until Castlereagh was closed. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
The "Chesterfield’s" 1973 Mustang was Jim Read’s third and final funny car. The car was built to replace the Mustang that was T-boned by Don Hampton’s "American Bandstand" Corvette. In the Mustang, Read pulled off the biggest win of his career, a "double double" win in T/F and AA/FC win at 1976 Nationals. The win was the zenith in Read’s funny car racing career. Read later sold the funny car to concentrate on the Top Fuel dragster. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Bob Shepherd’s first funny car was purchased from Ray Zygadlo. The high riding flopper was taller than any other funny car in Australia. The car featured sponsorship from Graeme Cowin’s High Performance World. Shepherd only raced the car a short while, replacing it with the much lighter Shepherd Family Mustang. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
The competition for the "Phoenix" in Australia and New Zealand was Gene Beaver’s super-sanitary "L.A. Hooker" Mustang II. Australian resident Ed Stivovich bought the car from Gene. The lettering on the car was changed to the "Sindicate." The first driver for the car was Bob Shepherd. The Sindicate team was one of the first into the sixes in Australia. The Mustang II was later repainted yellow and blue. Graeme Cowin took over the driving chores until the car was sold in the early 80s. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Jim Walton left the AA/FA ranks to drive this aging Mustang. Former Top Fuel racers the Hussey Bros. owned the "Canned Heat" Mustang. Jim Walton began driving this car in 1977. The low-slung car ran seven-second times. Jim Walton left the team to drive his own car again, when he purchased Gary Densham’s Monza. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Tom Sterling’s "Thunderbolt" was a pure Ford funny car. A real 427 Ford wedge powered the clean black funny car. The "Thunderbolt" was not as successful as Sterling would have liked. The car was too heavy plus the Ford was breakage prone. A new Mustang was built and Owen Griffith took over the driving. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
Ray Zygadlo’s second funny car replaced the far outdated "Demon’s Disciple" Valiant in 1975. This new Torana replaced the Disciple’s steel body and ancient square tube chassis, but the drivetrain remained the same. The car proved to be a major improvement over the Valiant, and Zygadlo raced it for two years. The Torana was sold to Bob Shepherd, and Zygadlo built a new car with Bruce Lynch. (Photo and info provided by David Cook)
