We built a competitive funny car in '69 for $8,500, the Ken's Speed Shop Corvette. We did build our own chassis, tin, paint, etc., and put together the engine ourselves. However we had John Garrison do the machining & heads, etc., so we didn't cut too many corners. It was stock stroke, steel block & heads, direct drive, no reverser. It ran very strong and consistently. Finished second in points up here behind Jerry Ruth and that was only because we didn't run all the points deals. (We beat JR every time we ran him). Won a ton of match races. The car paid for itself four or five times over. The engine lasted a year and a half with little maintenance, 'cept wearing out a few blowers. The 426 was still running fine (had way over 150 runs on it), but the car owner (Kenny Martin) went all religious and wouldn't race on Sunday anymore. We turned the car over to Jerry Verhuel and Frank Hall. Jerry V tweaked the lead (we always stayed on 60 and ran the can). They ran faster and quicker than any stock stroke 426 F/C ever had, but they melted it down within three weeks...

The car worked because it was light -- a match race car -- weighed around 1,500 at the line. No reverser not only saved weight (and bucks), but also allowed the engine to be way back. It was basically a short digger with a ‘Vette body on it. A cool car -- there should be a class right now for something like that...

P.S. -- The no reverser deal also made for a huge turnover in crew guys. <g>