I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I'm not much of a car person myself, but my 8 year old loves them, especially race cars. He spent a couple of hours over 3 or 4 days poring over this book. He wanted me to write that he especially liked when there was an "old black-and-white" photo next to a colour photo of the same or similar vehicle. Some of the reading was above his level, but he was able to read the picture captions fine, and piece together some of the rest. He assures me that he learned a lot. In fact, our local museum had a "Reimagining the Drive" exhibit, which featured a funny car among other vehicles. He was able to tell me some things about it, and correct another patron when he incorrectly asserted that another type of drag racer was also a funny car.

Although I am not much a car enthusiast it was interesting to view all the photos from throughout the years. I can only assume someone who does have interest in Funny Cars, would find this a nice as a nice addition to their shelves. For me, Its decent coffee table book that guests do find intrigued to flip through. ( )

Early Funny Cars: A History of Tech Evolution from Altered Wheelbase to Match Race Flip Tops 1964-1975 by Lout Hart, is full of photos, but I was disappointed that most of them were in black and white. As usual in CarTech books there is an excellent and thorough history, including a history of doorslammers morphing into flip tail rail monsters. I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program, in return for this review. ( )

Another smasher from The Car Tech folks with Lou Hart compiling this gem. Those of us who grew up with Funny Cars and those curious or fans today will be blown away with this entry. Jammed packed with every imaginable photo as well as all the background info you could ask for.

Funny Cars made their niche in auto racing down the quarter mile strip that had been dominated by the dragsters. But everyone who drove their own street version of what they saw on the strip made it even more mind blowing. Many of the names and machines featured here I well remember at my own home strip, "Great Lakes Dragaway."

The fun is endless here to go through the pics and stories that seem so long ago but still only yesterday in the thrill cycle. Definitely a great addition to your car collection lore and one that will stand out at the finish line. ( )

I can echo Autoist's review. If you are know a lot about funny cars you will probably find this book super interesting. If you don't know a lot about funny cars, you may find that early funny cars don't match /your/ idea of what a funny car is. The book does contain an extraordinary amount of information, anecdotes, and technical details on a *lot* of vehicles. Some of the personalities, culture, and drama around racing were explored a little, which I found interesting. I wish there had been a little more attention paid in editing to typos, grammar, explaining unusual vocabulary ("lingo"), and providing a formal conclusion at the end of the book. One hundred percent color photographs would have been nice too, but, I understand these are fifty year old photos. It's interesting from the perspective of guys with wild ideas about how to squeeze more speed out of a vehicle any which way they could, and finding a way to try their ideas, whether it led to success, or dramatic failure in the form of an engine exploding or a car veering off the drag strip. (The latter were some of my favorite parts to read.) All that being said, as a moderate level car enthusiast, I would recommend this book for people who understand more about the world of drag racing, details of automotive modifications, and the like. Thanks to LibraryThing and CarTech for the opportunity to review. ( )