Many moons ago, drag racers actually bore a greater resemblance to the street cars they were built off of than a Black & Decker 9.6V Cyclonic Dustbuster, and privateers could compete and win with nothing but self-named machines that bore few, if any, sponsor logos. As Japanese cars gained popularity in the late 70s, some quarter milers gave them the funny car treatment as well. One such racer was Chuck Etchells, who campaigned the “Future Force” Datsun 280ZX, a picture of which we stumbled upon on draglist.com sporting a towering blower whose height is matched only by the ten-gallon hat on the Yosemite Sam impersonator in the background. According to the site, “Chuck was one of the few to escape the little known Datsun curse. Like the Corvette Curse, almost every Datsun bodied funny car crashed.” His best time was a 6.17 at 227 mph.
Click here or a trip down memory lane, or if you wish to see an elongated Plymouth Sapporo. The choice is yours.
