
A dragster is a specialized competition automobile used in
drag racing.
Dragsters, also commonly called "diggers", can be broadly placed in three categories, based on the fuel they use:
gasoline
Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...
,
methanol, and
nitromethane. They are most commonly single-engined, though twin-engined and quad-engined designs did race in the 1950s and 1960s.
The design of dragsters evolved from the front-engined rail (named for the exposed frame rails) of the earliest days of drag racing, into the "slingshot" (with the driver between or behind the rear tires, or "slicks") of the early to middle 1960s, to the "modern" type common in the 1970s.
Depending on the class they run in, dragsters can be
injected or
supercharged
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...
(or
turbocharged), with a variety of possible engines. The engines are most often derived from automobiles'; some early examples used surplus aircraft engines. Today, they may also be electric.
Dragsters are distinct from "bodied" cars such as
funny cars and
gassers, as well as from
Altereds.
History
Front engine

The front engine dragster came about due to engines initially being located in the car's frame in front of the driver. The driver sits angled backward, over the top of the
differential in a
cockpit situated between the two rear tires, a design originating with
Mickey Thompson's
Panorama City Special in 1954, as a way of improving traction.
This position led to many drivers being maimed when catastrophic clutch failures occurred.
Due to limited traction, some dragsters with four rear drive wheels were attempted
as well as designs with twin engines.
The final Top Fuel driver to win a National Hot Rod Association national event in a front engine dragster was Art Marshall on August 6, 1972 at the Le Grandnational outside of Montreal, Canada.
Rear engine
The drawbacks of front-engine designs (including fatalities) led to several attempts at rear-engined cars. Among them were pioneering rear-engined dragsters (and funny cars, including
Doug Thorley's and Dave Bowman's) were
Steve Swaja's
AA/Gas ''Wedge I'' from 1963,
Roger Lindwall's 1966 Top Fuel
''Re-Entry'' and Kent Fuller's fueller ''
Sidewinder III'', both in 1969.

In mid-1969, ''
Drag Wedge'', built by
Logghe Brothers for
Andy Granatelli, debuted, and later that year, prodded to action by the death of John Mulligan,
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.
[Burgess, Phil, ''National Dragster'' editor. "Front to back: The rear-engine transition", written 20 February 2015, a]
NHRA.com
(retrieved 1 November 2018) Driven by Foster, the Gilmore car ran just once, getting up on its single rear wheelie bar and breaking in two at around , at
Lions Drag Strip.
Gilmore and Foster built a similar car,
''Pawnbroker'', for
Dwane Ong, incorporating the lessons of the previous car; it debuted in 1970, and proved considerably better.
In August, Ong won the
1970 AHRA Nationals in the car.
''Pawnbroker'' won the American Hot Rod Association
Summernats in
Long Island, New York, the first national event win for a rear-engined car, with a pass of 6.83 at .
"Big Daddy" Don Garlits examined the car and was so impressed with the forward view, he could not understand why everyone did not drive one--and why it did not work.
Around the same time,
Bernie Schacker's rear-engined car, the first with a rear wing, was the first to run in the sixes, with a 6.98 at , at New York National Speedway's Spring Nationals (an event sanctioned by none of the national bodies).
In April 1970, Mark Williams' car, built for
Mike Dollins and
Dan Widner (at a cost of only US$2,111.16), first appeared; its wheelbase was significantly longer than the usual for fuellers at the time.
The car ran well, but required new driving techniques; Dollins and Widner lacked the money to continue racing it, and it was sold to a Colorado team, which switched to a
hemi (rather than the usual .
Others rear-engined cars included ones built by
Art Malone (before working with Garlits on his), the ''National Speed Products Research'' car built by
Frank Huszar (
Race Car Specialties) on a stunning wheelbase; driven by
Chuck Tanko, it was overweight, at , and could only achieve 7.20s at , never running in competition.
On March 8, 1970, at Lions Drag Strip,
Garlits was driving ''Swamp Rat XIII'', also called the ''Wynnscharger'', a slingshot rail, when the vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure, and the car broke in half in front of the cockpit.
Garlits returned to Pomona with a brand new mid-engined car, ''Swamp Rat XIV'', in 1971.
At first, the rodding magazines considered the disadvantages of the new design "obvious". ''Swamp Rat XIV'' turned in a pass of 6.80 right off the trailer,
and was so successful during 1971, Garlits won two of his next three Top Fuel Eliminator titles (the
Winternats and Bakersfield), and was runner-up at Lions, all in the new car.
Rear engine dragsters have since become the standard dragster design.
Historic cars
*

1954 — first slingshot, built by
Mickey Thompson.
* 1954 — ''Smokin' White Owl'', built by George "Ollie" Morris, first purpose-built rear-engined dragster and first car to use a Chevrolet V8 engine.
* 1962 — the Greer-
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
–
Prudhomme digger, with the best win record in NHRA history.
* 1971 — ''Swamp Rat XIV'' (or ''Swamp Rat 1-R''), first successful rear-engined dragster, built by
Don Garlits
Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Born in Tampa, Florida, Garlits is considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pion ...
;
Ed Donovan introduces the 417
Donovan hemi, an aluminum copy of the Chrysler
[''Street Rodder'', 7/94, p.144.]
References
{{reflist
Drag racing cars