Images courtesy: BigJohnMazmanian.com

One of the early pioneers of the Gasser and Funny Car movement was a gentleman from the Los Angeles area known as “Big John” Mazmanian. As if the sound of his name alone didn’t catch your attention, his beautiful race cars and the statements he made on the track certainly did. Born in 1926, John began his fascination with cars at a young age, purchasing a Model A coupe in Junior High School, and later a chopped top ’39 Mercury. With legal, organized drag racing not yet established, John took to the streets with a ’32 highboy roadster and then to the El Mirage dry lake beds after the local police put the kabosh on their activities.

Following a tour of duty with the military in World War II, John returned stateside, got married, started a family, and took over the family business. But the burning desire to race never left, and around 1957, he bought a ’57 Ford Fairlane with a supercharged 312 that served as the family car on weekdays and a race car on the weekends..

He then moved on to a ’61 Corvette, complete with fuel injection, 283 horsepower, four-speed, and Posi-traction that was campaigned in C/Stock. With his nephew Rich Siroonian driving, they won class at the ’61 NHRA Winternationals. By 1964, John had sold the Corvette and acquired a ’41 Willys Coupe, with a 392 Chrysler Hemi under the hood, running a best of 9.77 at 149 MPH in A/Gas in 1977.

In the late 1960’s, John sold the Willy’s and purchased an Austin and painted it in what was now his trademark Candy Apple Red paint scheme. During his time of ownership of the Austin, Mazmanian teamed up with Jr. Thompson, who put John’s name on his own Austin and the pair traveled throughout the midwest and eastern U.S., putting on gasser shows across the country and in Canada.

Following a multi-year run with the Austin gasser, the car was sold and John briefly joined what was then the early years of the Funny Car category with a ’68 Barracuda sporting a 426 Hemi engine that is still recognized as one of the finest Funny Cars in history. Again painted in Candy Apple Red and lettered with real gold leaf, the car was built by John Foster and driven by Siroonian. The team earned its biggest win at the 1968 Manufacturer’s Funny Car Championships at Orange County, besting Don Schumacher in the final. John retired from the sport in 1972, but his legend lived on, earning him induction into the NHRA Hall of Fame in 1998 along with being honored as one of the Gasser legends on multiple occasions. John passed way on July 21, 2006, but his time in the sport will never be forgotten.