If you look back through the history books, you’ll find that automotive bodies — or sections of them anyway — draped over a dragster chassis isn’t all that out of the norm. The early Competition Coupes were built in just such a manner, and are still among the coolest race cars ever built, as they were quote unique from their slingshot dragster counterparts, despite still being, under the shell, a slingshot dragster. But such a thing hasn’t, to our knowledge, been tried on a front engine dragster since the early 1970’s when the rear engine design supplanted and all but ruled the slingshot and Competition Coupes extinct.
But we found one, and while it may not be an all-out piece intended for competitive racing purposes, it’s very cool nonetheless.
Bradley Gray, a custom car aficionado who has a collection of rides under his “Blown Mafia” banner, built this rear engine digger featuring a 1934 Ford replica body commonly used on the Legends oval track cars that’s been seamlessly fabricated around the dragger chassis to create a very custom and classy look.
The car is, perhaps most intriguingly, built upon a piece of drag racing history, as the chassis from the roll cage forward is one of the original cars that Top Fuel legend Jeb Allen campaigned in the 1970’s. From the cage on back has been completely redone in a more modern configuration and in a way to house the wild triple-supercharged engine combination that Gray stuck between the pipes.
The motor, a 468 cubic inch big block Chevrolet with three roots-style blowers on top — two smaller B&M units with carburetors stacked on top of one big Bowers ‘huffer’ all producing 18 lbs. of boost— is certainly designed for ‘show’ moreso than ‘go’. But as Gray explains, the car is just meant to have fun with, and while it isn’t something most serious drag racers would build, you have to admire the creativity and ingenuity to build a completely unique car with an old-meets-new drag racing flare.
Video credit: ScottieDTV