One of a Kind Rides: Don Hampton's "American Bandstand" Corvette

By Bill Duke and Danny White
Photos by Bob Plumer’s Drag Racing Memories

Don Hampton’s original claim to fame was campaigning a twin-engine, side by side Competition Coupe. The "Too Bad" car was a dragster with a distorted fiberglass replica of a Fiat Topolino mounted on top. Hampton ran the car for several years, using bored and stroked 283 Chevrolet small blocks. You couldn't get 327s at the time, since they were released shortly after the coupe debuted in 1963. By 1968, Hampton switched to Top Gas, culminating in his winning the 1970 NHRA Winternationals in the "Too Bad." Apparently, Hampton had the "Too Bad" rail up for sale when he won Pomona. He used the funds from the win and from the sale of the rail to build the Corvette.

Still relying on his knowledge of how to make side by side motors work, Hampton seemed to incorporate remnants left over from the Competition Coupe in constructing the Corvette. Instead of gas burning 283s, he used alky fed 350 LT-1s. The car ran mid sevens at about 180 mph. Not bad for such a bizarre set up, relying on antiquated technology that really wasn’t refined even when in vogue some ten years prior. The engines were set at a 45-degree angle with one set forward and one set rearward in the frame. An exposed flywheel meshed gears from one engine to the other. The engines used a common Oldsmobile rear end with 4.38 gears. Hampton sat slightly behind and to the right to make room for the rear end.

The "American Bandstand" Corvette was never a major threat to win in Southern California. The car was illegal by NHRA AA/FC rules. But the sound of two blown engines in a single car made it popular nonetheless. Hampton was still running the car as late as 1974 when he toured Australia. There the "American Bandstand" was destroyed when it T-boned Bob Shepherd in Jim Read’s "Chesterfield’s" Mustang. Besides Dean Dillingham’s "A&W Root Beer" inline Chevy Nova, the "American Bandstand" was the only dual engine flip top funny car. Hampton never built another funny car after the crash. He went on to drive Top Fuelers until he retired from driving.

Bill Duke and Danny White
Photos provided by Bob Plumer’s "Drag Racing Memories"