Pawnbroker (dragster)

Pawnbroker is a pioneering rear-engined dragster built in 1969.

Pawnbroker
Overview
Production	1969
Designer	Woody Gilmore
Body and chassis
Class	Top Fuel
Body style	Rear-engined dragster
Layout	Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive

History

In 1969, prodded to action by the death of John Mulligan earlier in the year, Woody Gilmore (following the mid-engined Funny Car he built for Doug Thorley) and Pat Foster developed a rear-engined fuel dragster, which was unveiled in December.^[1] Gilmore and Foster built a similar car for Dwane Ong, incorporating the lessons of the previous car; vertical struts, with no wing (yet), prevented side-to-side motion. Powered by a Ramchargers-built engine, Pawnbroker ran 10–11 in (250–280 mm)-wide M&H slicks on 12 in (300 mm)-wide rims, rather than the usual 12 in (300 mm) and 16 in (410 mm) widths.^[1]

Sponsored by Hastings Manufacturing's oil additive, Torque, it debuted in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1970, and wore livery of white overall with red and blue longitudinal stripes along the side.^[1]

In August, Ong won the 1970 AHRA Nationals in the car.^[1]

Pawnbroker won the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) Summernats in Long Island, New York, the first national event win for a rear-engined car, with a pass of 6.83 at 219 mph (352 km/h).^[2] Ong ran the car mostly at AHRA events before switching back to Funny Car.^[1]

References

1. Burgess, Phil, National Dragster editor. "Front to back: The rear-engine transition", written 20 February 2015, at NHRA.com (retrieved 1 November 2018)
2. Hot Rod staff writers. "The History Of Hot Rodding – 1970s", written 29 August 2013, at Hot Rod Network (retrieved 19 June 2017)