I guess my first “Reyes on Tour” column featuring great-looking Funny Cars was a smash hit, so why not do Part 2? First off, I must admit that I’m sorry I don’t know exactly who painted or lettered most of these cars featured in this piece. I regret this because I like giving credit where credit is due. Making these cars into works of rolling art wasn’t easy, but the artists back in the day were some of the most talented people.
Where I was based, the talents of Don Kirby, Kenny Youngblood and Nat Quick stood out among the Funny Car painters and designers. That doesn’t mean there weren’t others, like Bill Carter and Cerny the Crazy Painter, who applied their talents to Southern California race cars. Meanwhile, in Northern California, Carl Delgrosso and Tony Del Rio were doing their thing with race cars based there. As for the East Coast, all I ever heard about was the guys at Circus Custom Paint & Lettering.
I wish I knew more about the talented painters in Texas and Oklahoma, but I never really paid attention to that side of the sport while on tour. So, here’s another dozen Funny Cars that I feel really stood out from an artistic standpoint and were great to photograph back in the day.
The Revell folks really did well with this design on Gene Snow’s Dodge Charger AA/FC. This was the first Funny Car that Revell turned into a model kit, and they chose well. This design got Snow noticed and helped the Funny Car class gain a lot of coverage. It even earned Snow a cover story on Hot Rod magazine. Heck, I got to do the box art for the model kit with my photos.
One of my favorite cars to photograph, day or night, was the Sein & Langford “Brand X” AA/FC. Driver Cecil Langford didn’t disappoint, laying down some great, long, smoke-filled burnouts. As you can see, this car really stood out at night here at OCIR.
Fans really seemed to like Shirl Greer’s “Chained Lightning” Ford Mustang. The lightning bolt down each side was a great, eye-catching design and made it nice to photograph, too. Again, whether night or day, it was a wonderful car to put on color film.
This hidden gem was based in the Pacific Northwest, the Colello & Cromwell “Taco Time” Vega AA/FC. This car wasn’t around for a long time, but I did get to photograph it at its sponsor’s restaurant. That photo session earned the team a cover on Popular Hot Rodding magazine.
The Revell folks were at it again, this time with Jim Liberman’s Vega. The Revell Jungle Man design fit Liberman’s personality perfectly. I was told the guys at Circus brought the Revell design to life and did a perfect job on the Vega. This proved to be one of the best-looking Funny Cars that Liberman ever raced.
In my opinion, this was the best-looking car that John Force drove during his long career. His Wendy’s Hamburgers Corvette was easy on the eyes and looked great on color film. Nice, easy-to-read lettering and a flawless yellow coat of paint made this car really stand out, especially at night.
Texan Mike Burkhart always had clean, great-looking race cars. This one stood out among Team Burkhart’s three Funny Cars. David Ray drove the white-and-red Vega. This car was a nice sight on those warm Texas nights at Green Valley, Texas.
If black cars are your thing, then Al Bergler’s Mustang was for you. You can’t beat a black flamed AA/FC; it just looks old-school racy. Sadly, this body wasn’t around very long. I believe Al burned it off not long after I shot this photo.
Texan Mart Higginbotham kept it simple for his Drag-On Vega in 1972. A basic design and an eye-catching paint scheme highlighted his Vega AA/FC. As you can tell, it photographed very well.
Tom Hoover always had great-looking race cars, from his days running an AA/FD to his line of “Showtime” AA/FCs. This Corvette impressed the editor of Popular Hot Rodding so much that Hoover found himself in the centerfold of the magazine.
Carrying the Revell design and colors was the Pisano & Matsubara Vega AA/FC. This duo was very popular throughout Southern and Northern California, racing pretty much every weekend or appearing at every Funny Car event in California, except when they were burning the body off the car.
Roger Lindamood was racing Funny Cars back when they weren’t Funny Cars, but rather converted stock cars. His “Color Me Gone” line of Funny Cars was well known throughout the United States. This one was the one I thought was the nicest of the bunch. Great colors and standout lettering made it a great car to photograph.
