The Rear-Engine Funny Car Revolution, 1967–1975
The rear-engined revolution may have rewritten the record books in Top Fuel when Don Garlits changed everything in 1971, but Funny Car racers were chasing that same magic years earlier—and with far more chaos, creativity, and heartbreak along the way.
My first glimpse of a rear-engine Funny Car wasn’t even a car at all. It was a truck—an oddball Sevela & Sons entry from Washington State that showed up at Half Moon Bay in 1967. It carried the stance of Bill “Maverick” Golden’s Little Red Wagon, just without the quarter-track wheelstands. I saw it once, got a couple of frames, and it vanished into Funny Car folklore.
Then came “Fearless” Fred Goeske and his back-motored Hemi-Cuda, the second version of the car that had already made headlines. The first one, with Tom “Mongoose” McEwen at the wheel, quite literally took flight at Lions in late 1966. McEwen walked away, but the car didn’t. Goeske’s 1967 season was wild, but by 1968 he parked the experiment and returned to a conventional layout—one of the first signs that back-motored Funny Cars weren’t for the faint of heart.
By then, the movement had gained momentum. Jack Ditmars tried a rear-engine injected Vega in the Midwest. Larry Derr rolled out a brand-new Ken Cox–built Javelin that tragically took his life during testing at Irwindale. Eddie Pauling arrived from Arizona with the Whinemaker Mercury Cougar, another promising entry that didn’t stay rear-engined for long.
Jack Chrisman, never afraid of the unusual, built a sidewinder Mustang that eventually landed in the hands of Roy Mehus. Fuel Altered veteran Bill Finicle tried muscling it around OCIR before finding the guard rail instead. Mehus patched it together and later sold it to John and Louie Force, who renamed it The Nightstalker—John Force’s first Funny Car ride.
The East Coast brought Ken Riehle’s Hellfire Camaro. Alabama produced the short-lived Alabamian Vega panel, destroyed barely two weeks after I photographed it. Driver Wayne Mahaffey survived, but the car didn’t.
And then came the one that truly worked.
In 1972, Southern California’s Jim Dunn and Joe Reath debuted a red rear-engine Hemi-Cuda that beat the odds and the field. Dunn, a bruiser from the Fuel Altered and Top Fuel trenches, manhandled the car to win the NHRA Supernationals at Ontario—still the high-water mark for rear-engine Funny Cars in big-league drag racing.
Others kept the faith. Dave Bowman fielded the California Stud Vega panel. Contorelli built a near-perfect Mustang he never had the funds to race. Dave Motta and Don Williamson created Return of the Bird, a nod to the mid-’60s Hairy Canary. Gary Gabelich debuted a wild rear-engine, four-wheel-drive Vega panel that bit him hard at OCIR before crewman Gary Scow saved his life by stopping the bleeding in time.
Some never made it past testing. Larry Fullerton’s rear-engined Trojan Horse caught a pole during a test burnout on the street outside his shop, exploding the fuel tank and leaving him badly burned.
By 1975, the last gasp came with Burt Berniker’s Hindsight, which entertained fans at Pomona when Dennis Geisler put it into a full-on, all-the-way-over backflip on launch. Geisler walked away. The car didn’t.
Rear-engine Funny Cars eventually found new life on the sand circuits through the ’80s and ’90s—Butch Blair, Ralph Pearson, and Hank Eckhardt all kept the concept alive in the dunes. But on asphalt, the chapter had closed. They remain a strange, spectacular footnote in Funny Car history—too wild to last, too unforgettable to ignore.
1967 – Half Moon Bay, Calif.
The Sevela & Sons rear-engine Funny Truck made one appearance and then disappeared into the Funny Car abyss. Rumor had it “Nitro” Nick Harmon bought it and crashed it in the Northwest, but the truth has been lost.
Fred Goeske’s Back-Motored Hemi-Cuda, 1967
“Fearless” Fred Goeske’s rear-engine Hemi-Cuda at Pomona and Riverside. This was the second version of the car, after Tom “Mongoose” McEwen’s original flew at Lions in 1966. Goeske ran it only during the 1967 season before switching to a conventional layout.
Arizona’s “Whinemaker” Cougar
Eddie Pauling’s rear-engine Whinemaker Cougar tried to prove the concept but eventually returned to a standard front-engine Mustang Funny Car.
Doug Thorley’s Rear-Engine Javelin (1968–69)
Doug Thorley sold his championship Corvair to the Pisano Bros. and rolled out a rear-engine AMC Javelin. Bob Hightower drove it until it took flight at Irwindale in 1969. Hightower climbed out unhurt, but Thorley retired the “flying Javelin” on the spot.
The Chrisman Sidewinder Mustang
Once Jack Chrisman’s experiment, the sidewinder Mustang was owned by Roy Mehus when Bill Finicle crashed it into the guard rail at OCIR. Mehus repaired it, raced a bit, and then sold it to John and Louie Force, who renamed it The Nightstalker—John Force’s first Funny Car.
Ken Riehle’s “Hellfire” Camaro
East Coast racer Ken Riehle did respectable work with the Hellfire rear-engine Camaro before it burned to the ground. Riehle later partnered with Kosty Ivanof in a Vega.
Robert Contorelli’s Mustang (1972)
Former Top Fuel racer Robert Contorelli built a beautiful rear-engine Mustang in 1972 but never had the funds to run it. The car was sold and enjoyed a second life on the sand-drag circuit.
The Alabamian Vega Panel
Billy Holt and Wayne Mahaffey’s rear-engine Vega panel survived barely two weeks after these photos were taken. Mahaffey was injured in the crash but recovered. The car was destroyed and never rebuilt.
Dave Bowman’s “California Stud”
Dave Bowman’s rear-engine California Stud Vega panel ran strong, finishing runner-up to Danny Ongais at the 1972 OCIR PDA race—the best finish for a rear-engine Funny Car in major SoCal competition. It later became a sand racer.
Jim Dunn & Joe Reath’s 1972–73 Cuda
The most successful rear-engine Funny Car ever. Dunn and Reath’s red 1972 Hemi-Cuda won the NHRA Supernationals and starred in Funny Car Summer. A sleeker 1973 version suffered handling issues and was parked in favor of a conventional Plymouth Satellite.
Motta & Williamson’s “Return of the Bird”
The NorCal rear-engine Dodge Challenger Return of the Bird paid tribute to the mid-’60s Hairy Canary. It ran briefly before disappearing into Funny Car history.
Burt Berniker’s “Hindsight” (1975)
Berniker’s Hindsight lasted several seasons before Dennis Geisler put it into a backflip at the 1975 Winternationals. Geisler walked away; the car was totaled.
Rear-Engine Funny Cars on the Sand (1980s–90s)
Rear-engine Funny Cars lived on in sand drag racing. Hank Eckardt, Ralph Pearson, and Butch Blair all campaigned rear-engined entries, including Blair’s Vega and later his “Jeepster.” Some eventually returned to asphalt in Top Fuel.
The Lenarth & Gavin AMC Gremlin (1973)
One of the last rear-engine Funny Cars of the era, the sidewinder AMC Gremlin crashed at Irwindale with Bob Hightower driving. Hightower survived, but the car was destroyed. Other rear-engine entries lost to crashes included Larry Derr’s AMC Javelin, Gary Gabelich’s Vega panel, and Larry Fullerton’s Trojan Horse, which never reached the track.
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