All images credit: Car Craft Sept. '72 NorthernThunder.com

Back when setting records and winning races was less about how much money you had to throw around and more about how good a mouse trap you could build, there was little to nothing something wouldn’t try to gain the upper hand. And through a lot of those ground breaking years, much of the contraptions that graced the quarter miles were both successful and unsuccessful attempts at improving aerodynamics.

The Can-Am race cars that competed throughout the 1960’s and 70’s sported aerodynamic, wedge-shaped bodies on monocoque frames that were considered to be engineering marvels of their time. Seeing the success that these road racers had, it only seemed befitting that drag racers borrowed on their ideas, thus a handful of Can-Am-style Top Fueler and even Funny Cars were born. And one of the most recognizable of those to this day was that of Barry Setzer. and driven by Pat Foster.

Unlike traditional dragster construction in which the body and chassis are fully separate from one another, this monocoque-style car built by the legendary ‘Lil John Buttera and Louie Teckenoff used a body and chassis that were a single unit, with inner and outer skins joined together formed together to create a rigid, box-like structure. This is much the same that Indy Cars have been constructed over the years.

Looking like something straight out of a Star wars flick, the Setzer machine featured a full body that enclosed or deflected airflow over all but the drivers roll cage, creating an incredibly aerodynamic design. Because the car was expected to be quicker and faster than it’s counterparts, the body shape and design were considered a very important element in the cars’ construction.

When Buttera and Teckenoff ran out of money to get the project off the ground, Setzer purchased the car and put Foster in the seat. Setzer dropped one of his nitro-burning Funny Car engines into the car and headed out to OCIR to test it. On its very first pass, the car saluted the sky and slammed back to earth, buckling the cars’ tub in the process. Buttera made repairs to the car and it was run a handful of times thereafter, but was eventually parked due to its crash-prone nature.

Car Craft writer John Fuchs featured the Setzer machine and its design and construction prior to its debut in the September 1972 issue, which has been transcribed and can be ready in its entirety on northernthunder.com.