You might have to help me with the copying and pasting of the ground. It doesn’t look right.

Before they were blown 500 cubic inch Hemi powered flip top floppers that battled every Sunday on the 1320, funny cars were a little different. In the early 1960s Funny Cars looked more like Gassers compared to their current incarnations.

They were all metal, their tops didn’t flip and many had straight axle front ends. They were initially nick-named funny cars for their altered wheel base which made the car look “funny” compared to the production models.

While the floppers have replaced the altered wheel base cars, some of these nostalgic rides still exist and can be found laying down rubber across the USA. Hot Rodder John Grinwald has built this replica 1965 Dodge Coronet A/FX Hemi Drag Car.

The A meant it was the largest engine class and the FX stood for Factory Experimental, which was the name of Funny Cars in the ’60s. The point for altering their wheel base was to achieve maximum weight distribution during a pass.

Nicknamed Gold Digger for its shiny coat (and its expensive mods), this Coronet boasts plenty of 1960s nostalgia. Pin-up art on the front panel blessing the driver with good luck, 426 Hemi and other messages are written in cartoon style fonts so you know this car means business and in true nostalgic performance fashion, velocity stacks stick out of the hood.

Gold Digger looks right out of 1965 as it made a pass at Bryon drag strip, Wisconsin. No delay boxes or computer controls here, she launched mechanically and hard by popping the clutch like a real race car should. With its mechanical fuel injected 426 Hemi the A/FX machine managed to turn an 1/8th mile ET of 8.88 @ 150th MPH.