| There was a time when a catchy name was as | | | | Ford. Other variations included the Boston Shaker, |
| important to a funny car driver as a supercharger and | | | | Bear Town Shaker and Bluegrass Shaker. |
| nitro. A car wouldn't run faster with a memorable | | | | Probably the most famous shaker was Seaton's |
| name, but it ensured profitable match race bookings. | | | | Shaker, owned by Pete Seaton. When he added a |
| Match races paid the bills, so race teams put a lot of | | | | blower, he updated the name to Seaton's Super |
| effort crafting unforgettable names. | | | | Shaker. Driver Terry Hedrick, acquired the car when |
| Of course dragsters and gassers had names, long | | | | Seaton retired. He shortened the name to Super |
| before the first funny car hit the track. Teams | | | | Shaker -- a combination of two of the most popular |
| switching to the profitable funny car ranks brought their | | | | flopper names. |
| old names with them. Roland Leong retained the label | | | | Most drivers retained the same name when they built |
| Hawaiian, made famous with his dragsters, on many | | | | a new car. Once a name was established, racers |
| successful floppers. Connie Kalitta used the name | | | | wanted to retain fan loyalty. One man who bucked this |
| Bounty Hunter on his rails before adopting the title for | | | | trend was Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick. Although |
| his funny car. Stone, Woods and Cook recycled the | | | | Beswick was known as the Farmer, each of his race |
| name from one of their gassers for the Dark Horse 2 | | | | cars had an unique name. These names included |
| funny car. When a crash destroyed that car, they built | | | | Tameless Tiger, Star of the Circuit, Super Judge and |
| a near-clone of the original Mustang. Rather than calling | | | | Boss Bird. |
| the new car Dark Horse 3, they christened it The | | | | Don Prudhomme, was known as the "Snake." His |
| Ghost of Dark Horse 2. | | | | most successful funny cars were sponsored by the |
| Race car names were inspired by events, activities | | | | US Army. While the white floppers weren't actually |
| and ideas. Roger Lindamood chose the title of a | | | | named Army, a host of fans paid good money to see |
| pop-county song to adorn his car. The song soon | | | | that "Army Car" in action. |
| faded into obscurity, but for more than a decade | | | | It would take a good-size book to contain a complete |
| afterwards, Lindamood's fans continued to cheer on | | | | list of funny car names. The stories behind Virginia |
| the car known as Color Me Gone. | | | | Twister, Secret Weapon, Yankee Peddler, Warlord, |
| The Blue Max was both a movie and a famous World | | | | Destroyer and Eastern Raider will have to wait for |
| War I German metal. It was also a highly feared funny | | | | another time. |
| car campaigned by Raymond Beadle. | | | | So what happened? Why don't funny cars have |
| Ford's Mustang inspired numerous horse related | | | | names any longer? One reason is that match-racing is |
| names, including the Trojan Horse, Boss Hoss, | | | | no longer viable. Instead of racing several times a |
| Stampede and Warhorse. | | | | week at small, out-of-the-way tracks, today's touring |
| The most popular funny car driver of all time was | | | | pros concentrate on the big national events. |
| Russell James Liberman. He first gained fame as the | | | | Today, there are a multitude of big races, many with |
| wheelman for Lew Arlington's Brutus GTO, but he | | | | full television coverage. Instead of running for |
| soon started touring his own car. Although the name | | | | appearance money, today's hero drivers rely on |
| on Liberman's cars was Jungle Jim, his fans and peers | | | | sponsorship to pay their salaries. There is no longer a |
| granted him Elvis status and always referred to him as | | | | need for a stimulating car name. |
| Jungle. | | | | Secondly, those corporate sponsorship deals involve |
| As teams started adding superchargers to their cars, | | | | huge sums of cash, and finding a willing sponsor is |
| a rash of names starting with the term "Super" | | | | difficult. Sponsors who pony up big bucks to place their |
| appeared; Super Cuda, Super Duster, Super Camaro, | | | | name on a race car don't want to share the car's |
| Super Stang, Super Bug, Super Charger and others. | | | | flanks with a nickname. When it comes down to name |
| While "shaker" was originally a slang term for | | | | or a lucrative sponsorship deal, teams always go with |
| Chevrolet, it was a popular name on all makes of | | | | the cash. |
| floppers. Al Bergler ran Vega, Mustang and Corvette | | | | I guess that's progress. Still, I'm glad I was active in the |
| versions of the Motown Shaker. Likewise, Hubert Platt | | | | era when funny cars were Vicious, Hairy, Candid and |
| campaigned his Georgia Shaker as both a Chevy and | | | | 2 Much! |