same here. some times (living in a home right out of the 1970s), when I sit in my chair with out opening the curtains, I swear its still the 1970s (until i play video games on the la[ top)
Had a wonderful chance to see Jim Dunn rode his last ride in his Fireman's Quickies flopper in Sacramento in 1990 before he went team owning. This man is truly a nitrohead legend with full determination to live and breath nitromethane throughout his blood veins! Good luck, Big Jim, WE STILL LOVE YA!!!!
there's an avenue for you in NFC...older body styles, limited fuel/mag, MUCH slower though! I started to love funny cars because the DIDN'T look like a street car! Altered wheelbase cars, then the flip top cars...now the aerodynamic monsters they are!! Who gives a shit if they don't look like the factory version??! It's FUNNY CAR racing...the name came about because they 'looked' funny. (and they hadn't figured out what to call them...lol) I love nostalgia AND the big show cars...BUT...you can't have 8' header flames and 330 mph funny cars without LOTS of fuel and aerodynamics!!
Man this movie brings back the memories!I seen it in the theater when it first came out back in the day. I think I was 11 or 12 years old.I had seen most all the Nitro Drags at Fremont where I grew up, the past is all but a faded memory.It's all gone now.This movie has cheesy music,though. Thanks for sharing this.
Nice. My Dad wouldn't take me to go see it because his friend told him it was all racing in the dark and wasn't any good. So my Dad bought me a plastic model of Jungle Jim instead. I got to see Funny Car Summer when I was much older and could appreciate it better. I got the best of both worlds.
Nice memories. I still see Jim Dunn at the drag races, I've been to many races at OCIR it was a great track. My dad and I saw this movie when I was a kid. We saw it at a local movie place. Cool footage of the Sush Matsubara driving.
I met Dave Beebe in Porterville, California in the 1990's. He ran a U-Haul and a small used car lot with his wife, Janet. We talked about this movie at length, and even though at the time he was still involved with vintage racing at Famoso, he said that "those days" were the best in his life.
My dad and his friends would race at Piedmont during the 70s. Their cars were mostly factory. My uncle ran what was considered a funny car back then although it was more like pro stock. It is a '72 Boss Mustang. Notice I said *_is_* a 72 Mustang, that's because he still has it. He bought it new and gutted the interior and would periodically switch it to street legal. He loves that car much that now he has 2 of them. This movie brings back great memories. The cars my dad raced were a '65 Plymouth and a '72 Plymouth. Both are sitting in my back yard.
I saw this in the theater at the age of 12 when it came out and I haven't seen it since. But I have thought about this movie occasionally. It's really cool to see Mike Dunn as a kid before he became a champion drag racer, and to see the vintage funny cars when they blew up or went sideways down the strip about as often as not.
I was 12, so was my girlfriend and her mom was 30. The three of us would get a pizza, go to the movies and have an ice cream cone afterwards. They were both cute as all hell; at the end of each evening I hugged and kissed them both goodnight. Great friends, wonderful times. Wish I could go back and enjoy it all over again.
The March Meet and Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso has great, nostalgia funny cars and rails. They actually still race 1/4 mile unlike NHRA current funny cars and Top Fuel cars.
Same here. "Home movies" Lived there at OCIR three days a week, most nights test and tune. Summer 79-fall 83. Stationed at El Toro MCAS, too close to miss. Driving a HEMI road runner. Right over back fence of base. Cross railroad tracks...main parking lot. When we couldn't afford a big event ticket, we'd watch through the brown wooden fence at starting line. Spent a lot of times at parties on top of the tower there.
I literally grew up at all the racetrack's of So-Cal, but my first race, at the ripe ol' age of "8 day's!" was at the long gone Fontana strip, where my gear head, race lovin Daddy ran his 59 Pontiac StarChief in the bracket's there, so my first love has always been dragracing! I was at every OCIR meet in this film & nearly every other So-Calif ( plus a couple at Fremont ) race. I even raced go-karts with Mike Dunn! Mike's kart racing was over when it started, Mike flipped his new Margay kart at the old Adams kart track in Riverside CA ( I'm proud to say it's still there today! ) & Big Jim said "that's it, if Mike is gonna get hurt, he's gonna do it in a racecar, not a go-kart!" LOL! I was at the pit-area concession stand, buying a hotdog at the 74 Funny car manufacturers meet at OCIR, when who did my 13yr old eyes see, but the sexy as hell Ms Jungle Pam! I was staring a hole thru her & she saw me ( drooling I'm sure 🤤 ) she chuckled & winked at me, I damn near fainted on the spot! 😂 Thanks for posting this racing classic flic, if you are from this area & era, it is required viewing. It's a damn shame that nearly all the track's & strip's of So-Cal are long gone, every single track lost to greedy ass land developers ripped out a piece of my racer's soul 😖 #SnakesStillTheGOAT
To bad NHRA let the cost get out of hand. I enjoy seeing a car go 250 mph as I do 320 mph. I do not need that speed if it will cause the sport to fade away because of cost. The good old day that took grit.
My uncle steve was the one who was the driver of nelson carters super chief i wasnt born at the time but man i wish i couldve seen these cars in there prime
just effing beautiful that dunn funny car.i love nitro but race cars have doors.i ve raced a modified 64 malibu ss on streets with blown 540 bbc.run middle nines in street trim.twin 850 holleys allowed somewhat reasonable gas bills.downtown you rule with 9 sec car that does not heat up in traffic lights.tires were hoosier 21.5x33x15.good traction....
