Mike 1017 Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 (edited) One of the World’s First Funny Cars, the 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle “Tiger II,” is For Sale - Hemmings I say NO Mike Edited May 14 by Mike 1017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 (edited) It's an altered wheelbase match-racer. They were called "funny cars" way back then because they looked "funny". THIS PARTICULAR CAR is a full tube-frame center-steer car, which makes it essentially a very early "funny car" even in a strict historical sense. But call it whatever you want. https://digital.allchevyperformance.com/issue/january-2024ru/tiger-ii-altered-wheelbase-1965-chevelle-funny-car-restoration/ Edited May 14 by Ace-Garageguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Brian Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 This is definitely one of those transitional cars before what would become a funny car was standardized. Is it a funny car by modern design elements? Not really. Is this car part of funny car DNA? Absolutely. To bring it to another subject, are Cream and Led Zeppelin heavy metal? Going back from today now that the form has been solidified they sound like blues rock bands but put on Sunshine of You're Love and you can hear the foundation heavy metal being laid. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 Yep, early Funny Car. I really like the mid 60's funny cars myself. There was a lot more variety and many of the cars were still steel bodied, based on production cars. I'm not sure if the claim about being the first center steer tube chassis is correct or not, but it is one of the first, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 19 hours ago, Fat Brian said: This is definitely one of those transitional cars before what would become a funny car was standardized. Is it a funny car by modern design elements? Not really. Is this car part of funny car DNA? Absolutely. To bring it to another subject, are Cream and Led Zeppelin heavy metal? Going back from today now that the form has been solidified they sound like blues rock bands but put on Sunshine of You're Love and you can hear the foundation heavy metal being laid. Well said! There is rarely a clean break when a "new" idea comes into being. Transitional is a good word for it. Some people look at early gassers and question whether or not they are true gassers because they don't have the traditional look of a gasser, yet that's what they were classified as. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 I agree transitional is the right term for that car. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncie Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 (edited) sorry, I can't wrap my head around calling them "transitional cars." "Come out Saturday night and see the Transitional Cars" just wouldn't work in the screamer drag race commercials on AM radio... This Chevelle probably raced before they were called funny cars late in the summer of 1965, but that is what it is. Things were changing fast in those days. Edited May 15 by Muncie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Brian Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 5 hours ago, Muncie said: sorry, I can't wrap my head around calling them "transitional cars." "Come out Saturday night and see the Transitional Cars" just wouldn't work in the screamer drag race commercials on AM radio... This Chevelle probably raced before they were called funny cars late in the summer of 1965, but that is what it is. Things were changing fast in those days. They certainly wouldn't be called transitional during their time period, only when looking back can we see the evolution of a design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 19 hours ago, Fat Brian said: They certainly wouldn't be called transitional during their time period, only when looking back can we see the evolution of a design. AND...in most sanctioning bodies at the time it would NOT have even been a class-legal AF/X car either . It would have simply been an altered-wheelbase match-racer, an evolutionary step between AF/X and funny cars as we know them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 On 5/15/2024 at 9:18 AM, MeatMan said: Well said! There is rarely a clean break when a "new" idea comes into being. Transitional is a good word for it. Some people look at early gassers and question whether or not they are true gassers because they don't have the traditional look of a gasser, yet that's what they were classified as. And there's a seemingly infinite crowd of rebleating "experts" who insist "gassers" were all nose-high stupid-jacked-up idiot boxes, which is simply not the case. Spare us from historical classifications by people who weren't there and have no real idea of what they're talking about. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 transitional adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Mike 1017 said: transitional adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com Great. And so what? If you're writing an article about the history of funny cars, or adding textual context/backstory material to help describe or justify a model build or a real replica, referring to this thing as "transitional" makes sense in the context of looking back. Otherwise, what's the point in trying to stick a classification on it? EDIT: I'm not trying to argue. You can call it anything you want. I'm just curious... Edited May 16 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 What it is depends on who just bought it, who had it restored, or who just put it into an auction... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted May 18 Author Share Posted May 18 On 5/16/2024 at 2:16 PM, Mark said: What it is depends on who just bought it, who had it restored, or who just put it into an auction... You are right. Whomever buys it can call it anything he wants Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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