Gary Fore and his beautiful 1971 Mustang "Super Cobra Jet" jet powered funny car will close the show both Friday and Saturday night at this year's Kansas City Muscle Car Reunion.It is the only nostalgia bodied jet funny car known. For more information on this incredible machine click here:

www.supercobrajetjfc.com

Serious drag cars of any type, particularly early funny cars, rarely survived many years of competition. The fragile bodywork was either trashed in an on-track incident or replaced when the next body style was available from the Big 3 in Detroit.  A true drag racing time capsule was recently found when Jim Kirby’s 1968 Camaro AA/Funny Car, last raced in 1972, was pulled out of storage.  The original body with its 1969 paint scheme was still on the original chassis!   Don Hardy built four fiberglass 1968 Camaro flip top funny cars; #1 Dick Harrell, #2 Mike Burkhart, #3 Jim Kirby and #4 Fritz Callier.

Jim Kirby, with crew members Mike Kausch and John Martin, campaigned the car on the AHRA circuit with an injected 427 cu.in. Chevrolet engine.  The car was painted bright gold, sponsored by Boemler Chevrolet and was quite competitive.  Kirby garnered several major victories and he ran the car through the final AHRA points race in August, 1968.

In 1968 Dick Harrell was running his blown, nitro car in a very busy match race schedule and competing in a full AHRA season.  He needed a second car to meet all of his match race commitments and cut a deal with Kirby to run his car as a Dick Harrell team car.  Part of the deal included the Dick Harrell Performance Center (DHPC) installation of a blown nitro Chevrolet engine in Jim’s car.  Jim’s car was repainted in Cadillac Firemist Plum while Dick’s was red.  Kirby and Harrell, in their similarly lettered race cars, competed in several AHRA events and individual match races in 1968.  Late in 1968 Harrell acquired a new 1969 Camaro glass body and commissioned Don Hardy to install it on his 1968 chassis.  Kirby agreed to let Dick drive his car for several of the remaining races late in 1968.  Dick won the ‘King of Kansas City’ event at KCIR in September, 1968 driving this car.  In February, 1969 Jim’s car was repainted with the new Dick Harrell team colors of candy apple red and gold lace panels and it ran as a DHPC team car during the 1969 season.  Both cars ran at several major events including the AHRA Grand American points final in Tulsa.

Jim and Dick parted company at the end of the 1969 season.  Jim removed the Harrell name and installed his own ‘Super Rat’ graphics along with the ‘CHEVROLET POWER – NOT AN IMPOSTER’ statement on the rear end panel.  The large majority of funny cars had switched to Hemi power but Kirby stuck with Chevrolet power for the rest of his racing career.  Dick was killed in a racing accident in Ontario, Canada in 1971 and Jim’s interest in racing began to fade.  Jim ran his car in selected match races then retired the car in 1972 and put it in safe storage.

Matt Murphy, GMMG in Marietta, GA purchased the Kirby car in 2003 and restored the chassis but left the body, tin and paint in ‘as found’ condition since this car is the sole surviving DHPC team car that still has the original candy apple red/gold lace paint!  Murphy had the original 1969 graphics applied as a tribute to both Jim Kirby and Dick Harrell….two drag racing pioneers from the early funny car wars.

Bill Porterfield purchased the car from Murphy in 2009 and finished up a few cosmetic and power related items.  He now has this piece of drag racing history tuned up on 90% nitro for cackle fests and, possibly, an occasional burnout and launch….stay tuned….

A 1968 Chevrolet ramp truck was located in the San Francisco area and transported back to Michigan for a total restoration.  This truck is similar to the trucks used by Fred Gibb Chevrolet and Dick Harrell to haul their cars during the 1968 and 1969 seasons.  The history of this truck is currently being researched.  The Jim Kirby 1968 Camaro AA/FC on a 1968 Chevy ramp truck….it didn’t get any better than that back in the day!

This car is displayed on honor of the Jim Kirby & Dick Harrell families and crews….

Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia Drags
is proud top annouce the addition of
Max Cackle Photography
to our 2010 KCIR event!!

"T.V. Tommy's" nickname was earned by appearances as a young actor in nearly 100 movies and 200 television shows. His show business experience taught him that a good show will always bring crowds back for more and he became drag racing's Master Showman.

Most drag racers of the 1950s were concerned primarily with performance and the appearance of their machines often suffered. From the beginning, Ivo's cars looked as good as they ran. His first success came with a new '55 Buick that won its class and set a new track record on the same day. Before his career ended he turned speeds over 300 mph, and raced 36 different cars in 12 classes.

Ivo's first real race car was his Buick-powered Model T roadster pickup. It was versatile enough to be undefeated in class, earn countless show trophies and magazine features and appear in teenage exploitation films of the 1950s.

The roadster's success led to Ivo's first dragster. Powered by an injected Buick, it was the quickest gas dragster in the country and won Top Gas honors at the first U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships in 1959. When the 1957-63 fuel ban was enforced at most Southern California strips, Ivo elected to build a twin-Buick dragster to make up for the lack of liquid horsepower. Like its predecessors, it graced magazine covers and became the first to run under 9 seconds on gasoline, the first to run over 170 mph and the first over 180 mph.

In 1960, he became the first drag racer to tour the country with a nationwide season-long tour. Appearance money made him drag racing's first touring professional. It was good for Ivo and good for the sport.

He designed and built his spectacular four-Buick dragster, arguably the most successful drag racing exhibition car of all time. Producers of the TV show "Margie," in which Ivo co-starred, put a stop to his drag racing when the behemoth appeared on the December '61 cover of Hot Rod Magazine. Unlike fellow cast members, he was delighted when the show was cancelled.

He immediately embarked on a 20-year odyssey that took him from fuel dragsters to jets and every corner of the country. Moving to the fuel ranks, Ivo was the first in the 7-second bracket and the first to exceed 190 mph. He was a proud member of the first United States Drag Racing Team and won the 1964 British Drag Festival. Ivo and Don Garlits became the talk of Europe. Back home, they hit the match race circuit, meeting as many 72 times at 72 different drag strips in a single season. For many years, Ivo averaged about 70,000 miles on the road and 80 to 100 dates. He once raced at eight different strips in seven days. Despite the "Hollywood Movie Star rich kid" image he fostered, Ivo built, tuned, drove and maintained his own equipment. In 1972, he became the first member of the Cragar Five Second Club and shortly after survived a horrific 240 mph crash without a scratch.

When most racers still towed trailers behind the family station wagon, Ivo toured in a glass-sided 10-wheeler truck carrying two dragsters and a matching Corvette push car. As dragster popularity waned in the mid-´70s, Ivo switched to Funny Cars. He also built a state-of-the-art jet dragster complete with glass showcase trailer. The jet gave him the high-speed ride of his life for two years. But the years on the road finally took their toll and he finished his career on a farewell tour with his old four-engine car in 1982.

After 30 years of drag racing, he retired leaving behind a legacy of professionalism and showmanship that paved the way for the corporate sponsorships and superstars of today's drag racing.

Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia Drags
is proud top annouce the addition of
Photo Sports USA
to our 2010 Gateway event!!

Photos Now Available!