A Phony, a Giant, and Peanuts: The Story of Three Insane 1960s California Funny Cars
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ม.ค. 2025
- When it comes to an era that knew no bounds for creativity and experimentation, the 1960s were it in the sport of drag racing. The most awesome venue for people to get weird in was the funny car category. With no unifying rules, no real road map to success, and only the need to stand out from the crowd to get match race bookings, people did crazy things.
This video explores the short and really fun history of three weirdly awesome California funny cars that all existed in the 1966 time frame. Peanuts, the monster Ford LTD of Sheldon Konblett, The Jolly Green GIant of Bob Davis, and the Phony Pony of Junior Brogdon. All three crazy, and all three amazing in their own ways.
If you love funny car history, you'll love this.
So glad Lohnes is publishing all of this history.
What? There is a book being made?
I only hit the "Like" button because TH-cam doesn't offer a "LOVE!!!" button! Great video!!!!!
Brian, just a quick note to let you know we're enjoying the amazing content still, sans a comment as they can be redundant with the same 'thank you and this was awesome' time and again. Cheers!
Damn right Brian… Your staying ahead of the game with the videos. Thanks bro ! We love it !
I’mma tryin! Haha
@@brianlohnes3079Seems like no video appear on your channel page Brian, its weird.
Same fan that saw the hydrogen peroxide rockets at OCIR here. My very first drag race was a match race event at Fontana Drag City starring - you guessed it - Peanuts! He was racing Brutus that night. Thanks Dad for being a car guy and passing it down.
This Michigan guy saw those hydrogen peroxide cars at OCIR as well.
They sure were long & quiet. 3 second quarter mile times 50 yrs ago.
Thank you emmensly, Brian. As a preteen kid in New Jerzy i saw the Phony Pony in the pages of some magazine of the time (Super Stock & Drag Racing Illustrated, probably.) As much as i love drag racing today, its not the same for me as they've taken the freak out of it. Sure, they go alot quicker and faster now, but I wonder: is it as much fun?
Awesome memories and thanks for watching. For me? I have only known the sport as it is, but it’s also why I am fascinated with its history. So awesome.
These are the videos I watch while building scale models. Gets those creative juices flowing.
Drag racing slot cars, but same deal here😂😂
man i love this stuff! my world stops when Brian sends out a new video, thanks sir!
Once again Brian hits it out of the park! Thanks for taking us all on a journey back to the glory days of California drag racing for us East Coast guys.
Your content output is insane, it's all super well researched, well edited, and consistent. I love hearing about all these hot rodding heroes from half a decade and half a world away from me.
Your upload schedule has been crazy lately, always the best content, thanks for your work Brian
And yet another KILLER video and audio presentation! Thank you Brian!
How fun to see this. I was one of the guys that worked on both of the Jolly Green Giants and we had more fun than should be legal. Bob was a great guy and a lot of fun to work with. Brian, you were absolutely correct on all the details of the car. You’ll notice that the hood is missing in a lot of the pictures. It blew off one night on the way home from the races and ended up on the San Diego Freeway if i remember correctly.
Superb stuff as usual Brian.
Part of drag racing is the showmanship. I fell in love with sign writing through my early encounters with drag racing.
I grew up in the 60’s. Thank you for bringing back some good memories
Great video, Brian! You knocked it out of the ballpark yet again. Best content available anywhere. Keep em coming.
Hello from Detroit, love the Chanel, I live around the corner where Detroit dragway used to be , used to be able to hear them from my bedroom window when I was a kid, love the Chanel, keep it up
Thaks for all the kewl uploads happy holidays everyone
What a fun video, you could spend countless hours covering the 60s drag racing scene. The jeep funny cars, topless funny cars, twin engine funny cars, fuel altereds, early rear engine fuel dragsters. This is about the best racing channel there is, fun and informative. Thanks Brian we appreciate it!
I love these stories! Always fun seeing the innovations these guys came up with back in those days! Keep the stories coming 🙏
Thanks for posting. I remember these cars in the magazines 😊
53 Seconds. Freshest Brian Lohnes yet. *Grabs popcorn*
Love it! Chomp away.
Hahahahahahahahaha .... I'm in!
The Phony Pony is the coolest looking car ever! I love it!
The 60`s were crazy. Cool cars, but the Impala hits the spot for me. Thanks for yet another history lesson Brian. Keep them coming.
One inch thick fiberglass body sounds heavy..
Add in the steel roof and that’s where it gets to be 600lbs!
My thoughts exactly. Insane overkill for its original intended use. Must have been a typo. More likely 1/10".
@ the body weighed 600 lbs and was flown to rhe top of pikes peak hanging g from a helicopter. It was 1”
@@brianlohnes3079my man, I love what you do, but you may want to check your source for this one inch body claim. Even assuming a very light 7lb per board foot (12"x12"x1") for the fiberglass used (it's likely closer to 10lb), and way lowballing the dimensions of the LTD, the body would weight over 1,300lb at 1" thickness. That's not even counting the steel roof. The math just doesn't add up. Maybe some small areas that needed reinforcement were near an inch, but certainly not the entire thing. Not at 600lb.
@@brianlohnes3079It doesn’t really math Brian . Only reason I’m doubting the numbers is from my time in boat manufacturing and aircraft composites .
Thanks for covering the peanuts ltd, i have always been fascinated by it but knew very little about it. Thank you for bringing us this great history.
I'm smiling Brian!!!!!!! Thank you!
You are a TH-cam gem!
It doesn’t surprise me that the rear suspension on the Impala was stock and still worked for drag racing. My dad had a 66 Caprice 396 cu in with 4.10 gears and a posi and that thing was planted. Well as planted as the 1970 tires would let it be! 😎 Great video! 👍🏼👍🏼
My dad had a 68 Impala with a 327/365 engine turbo 400 12 inch posi rear it was special ordered this was when I got my license I did a lot of street racing with it that thing was fast beating Camaros and Novas and everything else I ran against
Another gem Brian. Thanks for the time and energy you put into your videos.
Just brilliant, thanks for the history if these funny cars; real fun times.
Damn, that was great! I grew up at Fremont during the sixties. Truly incredible racing action!! Many thanks.
Perfect timing, gonna love this one with a hot cup of cocoa .
Thanks again for the great content. Loving the work that you do! I'd drive the Jolly Green Giant because my dad drove several different Impalas back in those days.
Super video again!!!! I believe this is the first time I got completely shut out! Never heard of the big Impala before!!! Thanks!!!!
Another great one Brian! Thank you!
Excellent,thanks for sharing love your channel.
Brian tells the best stories. I'm 75 now, and invented the VALLCO Drag Racing Game along the way. Brin's shows fully involve me.
BL swinging through the TH-cam feed with the content we crave.
So thankful for this channel.
Another great documentary from Brian
I remember seeing these cars at the local dragstrip while we were running Jr Fuel
Wioohoo just came home to this. Thanks as always from downunder
Absolutely LOOOVVVVEEEE this channel and all the content. Especially some of these lesser known/heard stories from the heyday
Another excellent video Brian! And yes, the ‘65 Fords were quiet. And aunt and uncle of mine bought a new ‘65 Custom 500 4-door sedan, and it was so quiet even at highway speeds that it was a revelation. My parents bought a new ‘66 Rambler American the next year, and it wasn’t nearly as quiet as the Ford.
Always awesome content. Been listening to your podcast quite some time.
One Sunday morning at my beloved Irwindale Raceway, pulling into the pits is the funny car of Stone, Woods, & Cook with not only tinted windows, but blue carpeting....(March 3, '68) And THANK YOU again for these stories.
Another one out of the park, Brian. And once again, about cars I'd never heard of and these were the years I was racing my 396 Biscayne! Needless to say, a long ways away from Southern California, in Ontario Canada. As always, thank you.
But that cold air up there makes those engines run awesome when its cold!
@@giggiddy It's hard to get traction on the starting line ice at times, but we try!🙂
Very Interesting! Really enjoyed all of your research on these cool, old race cars!
Another great video! Thanks again Brian!
Thanks for this one - really cool match race cars from the 60s.
Damn Brian, 3 videos in 7 days!
Working a little OT?
Thank you for sharing another great story.
Got a long list!!!
Brian,
I love your historical perspective and research into drag racings oddities. I’d love to see you make a video about the “wheelstanders”. I grew up near US 30 Dragstrip in NW Indiana. Saw the Little Red Wagon, Hurst Hemi Underglass, Chuck Wagon, Hell on Wheels and a few others there.
There are some YT videos of Jan Gabriel’s radio spots from WLS back in the day. Can still hear “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday….” Great memories.
Epic!! Thank you Brian! The constant uploads are awesome!!
Easy answer brian! Id love to take the mustang for 1320 feet of fun!
Outstanding as always…you really dig deep to find these nuggets of knowledge…cheers from Orlando, Paul❤
A mid week knowledge drop!! Thanx bro, Merry Christmas
That was drag racing's greatest era. I was very fortunate to have seen it (including all three cars in this video) in person in my pre driving age years, due to my dad racing his super stock Mopars at SoCal drag strips throughout the sixties. One really had to be there to experience just what the great show that drag racing was in those days. It was just awesome.
Thank you for posting this, boy does that take me back to my childhood
You have a voice for radio..Im jealous .Love your content.I would go for the Impala.I love those drag cars from that era,especially the goofy ones.Who doesnt?
How crazy is this video. I want to drive the Ford, it looked like a showroom stock car and went like stink... Thanks Brain for another great video... Be blessed brother
The performance of Funny Cars now could only then be imagined but the 60's and 70's Funny Cars and how innovative they were is what I loved and remember (71 now) I was out at the Drags during that era and actually favor that time frame over the yes faster and quicker Corporate Funny Cars of the day.
I can't really decide between any of them if I had to choose one. They're all really wild and cool as hell!
Another good video Brian…way to go!
I'd totally go for that fiberglass LTD. Not only am I a Peanuts fan, but I like big personal luxury cars from that era as well. It's perfect!
That was an awesomely entertaining video. Cali was place to be in 60s car culture. Those were 3 of the wildest funny cars I’ve ever seen. As you asked if I had to pick 1 for a ride down the 1/4 mile? I’d take the phony pony and that long snout, so cool.
Luv being able to read the articles. Thank you Sir, Thank you VERY much . PS. Casey Kasem much lol. Cheers
Just freakin' GREAT, at that time I was a drag racing obsessed preteen, older brother/sister/parents would take me to the drags (Fremont/Vacaville/Half Moon Bay), have vague memories of the "Jolly Green Giant"/"Phony Pony", "Pegasus" Mustang, "Colt 45" Mustang, Bovan Nova, Melrose Missile, Schroeder Bossa Nova, Garlits Dart 2, Thorley Nova, Landy, Brutus , Jungle Jim ,etc. kinda in my memories too. It was insanity and glorious!------------------more please----------thanks again
As a life-long drag racing fan who grew up 5 miles from York US 30 Dragway, I love these old 60's innovative racers who built their machines in their home garages and flew by the seat of their pants.
Only in the 60’s, could this wild stuff happen. Wish I could have been there. Thanks for sharing
JT: Florida Dragstrip Riot
Way cool! Love the weird stuff.
Always wished they ran full-size cars in the late '60s on the big oval tracks as well.
That was a great video! Loved that Mustang back when I was a kid!
Holy hell...can you imagine going to that FC show at Wilmington that you posted the news clipping from?
As a kid, I drooled over the period photo magazines with all those cars featured...wow.
Brian, a correction. @ 4:50-ish, the description of the "Peanuts" lifting it's nose at speed is 180* out. For the nose to lift, a high pressure area must've been forming under the hood, not a low pressure area. The installation of the windscreen would stabilize the car by allowing a higher pressure area to build up above the hood.
Think of the air like a marble. Ever seen a marble roll uphill? Nope, neither have I. Just like a marble, air flows from high (pressure) to low (pressure), in the form of wind. It's also why EVERYONE farts on a jet - as the plane goes up, the pressure drops (until the air bleed from the engines stabilizes it @ 10,000ft). As the pressure drops outside the body, any gas inside the body tries to equalize with the atmospheric pressure around it. The result? PARP!!!
Interestingly, this problem of pressure build-up was seen in the Chrysler "Wing Cars" used in NASCAR in '69 & '70. They dealt with it by cutting vent holes into the top of the fenders, and covering those holes with a plastic molding. When asked about the holes & molding, it was claimed they were to help with a tire clearance issue - but that wasn't true, it was purely to vent the pressure buildup in the wheel wells & stop the cars from taking off at high speed...
Thank you Brian, I miss the days of Ingenuity. Phony Pony is my jam
Great speaking with you at PRI.
Another great episode Brian.
You've got to do a segment on Chuck Pools twin motor Dodge A 100 wheelstander. Thanks
I was a tad pre-occupied in the mid-60's with graduating high school and entering the USAF, so I have no memory of these particular cars from that era...But as a drag racing fan of those years, if I had to pick one to drive it would be the Chevy...I've always liked big cars, and always wanted (but never owned) a '65 Impala SS...I have become a huge fan of this channel, and really appreciate the dive into otherwise obscure history...
1 More Great Video Brian never herd of any of the Cars B4 Now
I'd love to drive all three of them but the Phony Pony would be a blast
That's crazy cool, I think the BIG LTD would be the way to go
another great video - thanks
That Impala would be frightening to drive. We should put Scott Palmer, Alex Laughlin & Kevin Kinsley in a time machine and send back in time to take turns driving each of them. 😂
Good video Brian!
I remember my grandfather telling me about Peanut when I was a kid. There was also something about boat racing, or water skiing , near Bisbee AZ.
Cant wait for more east coast racing history and stories.
Man I was born at the wrong time, I can’t imagine just how much fun these guys would have in the golden years of these events. Now I’m a East coaster so verrrry few drags strips left as it is but I would love for one day to experience the laughing, the smiles, the jokes, and the rush of this kind of drag racing. Thank heavens for the SEGA (south east gasser association) and the NY vintage drag events
Growing up in Southern California in the '60's & '70's we had the choice of (say '67-'68) San Fernando, Irwindale Raceway, Lions Drag Strip, and Orange County International Raceway on ANY given weekend- top fuel, funny cars, fuel altereds, etc.. Now, nothing except for Pomona which seems to have less crowds each race....
Really great videos
Awesome video! I've never heard of any of those cars! I'm a model car builder and would love to try and replicate The Jolly Green Giant 65 Chevy!!
I'm old! I saw all those cars run!😀
My Brothers best friend in high school was Johnny Hoffman. We had heard he was killed racing but never knew the details. Now we do, too bad my Brother is also gone. Thanks Brian
Fantastic dude
My pick would be the Blown Nitro Burning Chrysler Powered Ford.....But of course it would be.....In 1966 i had a Ford 1966 Galaxie with a 428 engine......As you said it was so quite inside while driving......Thank you Brian Lohnes.......
Old F-4 pilot Shoe🇺🇸
Now I finally get why my dad loved his Galaxie 500 . It had prime red panels and resembled a cow when coming into soccer field parking lot .
It got totaled after a late night impact by one of those other massive chunks of iron driven by the guy who won the race off the ferry boat at the end of our West Seattle roadway.
Now I’m inside the Vintage Hydroplane world at the Hydro and Raceboat Museum near Seattle, I’ve learned that our local Oil supplier , Bardahl, had paved the way for ALL
Racers to write off race costs as
an Advertisement Expense .
That is why these guys all had a business Monday-Friday, and could race on
Saturday-Sunday.
Racing is not a get rich scheme however.
Current H1 unlimited boats with turbines cost up to $2 million a year to race.
We don’t race the vintage open cockpit hulls but operated 6 this year for $700 k.
Now we have High schools and Colleges with sponsors on the Walls and Uniforms.
Great video on the past , definitely brought back some of the good old days .
When Promotion and Hyping an event was done with banners , signs and swag .
No computers or data log to fuss with on the cars then .
We are finding it harder and harder to find locations for noisy racing anymore as people now live in what used to be empty land .
Great video 👍👍
That last newspaper ad list includes “Engine Masters”. I saw them run their Allison powered 34 Ford sedan with the top chopped so low that the driver’s head stuck out of the roof.The push car was a candy apple red Buick Riviera. The smoke off the tires made the strip disappear.
Love this channel
Would you consider doing a video on the Hot Rod Herman episode of The Munsters seeing it has all that early 60s drag strip goodness in it and , more importantly if they actually ran the Dragula and Munsters Koach at real dragstrip speeds or was it just tv magic?
This episode I will nominate for an Emmy, or whatever
These types of videos makes me wish there were more modern drag racers doing unique set-ups like these. A lot of modern drag builds feel standardized nowadays in stead of something for fun.
Closest we have nowadays are the drag and drive racers. They field all different body styles, sizes, and brands,, They seldom have a paid professional crew, mostly family or buddies that cram into the car to drive hundreds of miles between tracks. Drag racing, working on their cars, doing a road trip, and having fun is what it's all about. Somewhat like the old times.
I have a picture of the phony Pony taken by my brother at us 30 drag strip in Hobart Indiana
Awesome!
NHRA needs some sort of experimental class, just for fun. I know they have the occasional jet cars and wheel standers.