Traditional black and red paint gave this Tri-Five Chevy pickup some added eye appeal; the `chrome' trim separating the two colors was actually painted on.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Spectators check out one of Jess Tyree's potent Pontiacs, which tore up the match-racing circuit back in the '60s and '70s.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Maybe the craziest drag racers of all time were those who willingly chose to pilot Fuel Altereds, which were basically bare-bones, short-wheelbase hot rods equipped with Top Fuel Dragster engines. None was more iconic than the Marcellus and Borsch Winged Express, seen here in the pits at the Reunion.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
We didn't catch his name, but we're betting this guy was the proud owner of this beautiful B/Gas Willys coupe, since he was tuning it up for a pass down the Famoso quarter mile.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Anybody who didn't notice this amazing 1937 Ford coupe on the vendors midway just wasn't paying attention. Built by Ryan Reed of "Reed's Rides," the car's flawless olive paint, perfect stance and gorgeous interior made it a standout.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
It wasn't all fuel dragsters, as this photo of a bunch of old-school gassers indicates. The classic Willys cars dominated, but there were a couple of cool old Chevies on hand, too.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The first car to make a pass down the drag strip at Great Bend at the first NHRA Nationals in 1955, Art Chrisman's gorgeous flathead-powered roadster looks as good today as it did way back then. It made another pass at the NHRA's 40 anniversary celebration at Great Bend, with Chrisman at the wheel.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Denver Schutz hammers the throttle of a Top Fuel Dragster in a burnout to heat the tires up prior to a blast down the quarter mile strip at Famoso.
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Stan Berry / Courtesy
A couple of interesting new friends, Ramon van de Weurf, with the video camera, and John Kramer, came all the way from Holland to take part in the 20th annual California Hot Rod Reunion. Ramon owns and drives a 1971 Dodge nostalgia funny car called `Wild'r at Heart,' with John serving as part of the crew. We kept running into each other after the opening night's festivities.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Ed Iskenderian, the legendary camshaft manufacturer, brought his original 1924 Ford roadster to the reunion from its current home in the NHRA Motorsports Museum. The classic roadster is still powered by a flathead V-8 with an overhead valve conversion, complete with hand-engraved valve covers.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
An old-time drag race wouldn't be complete without a pass or two by a wheelstander like Kerry Watson's rear-engined pickup, which carried both the Stars and Stripes and the Canadian Maple Leaf all the way down the quarter mile with its front wheels hiked up in the air.
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Matthew Berry / Courtesy
`Big John' Mazmanian's Hemi-powered Austin gasser was a crowd pleaser, just as it was back in the '60s.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
One of the wildest Funny Cars on display at the Reunion was this full-sized 1966 Buick Wildcat, campaigned by the Brooklyn Speed & Machine Shop under the sponsorship of a group of East Coast Buick dealers. Powered by a supercharged Buick 430 cubic inch V-8, the `Ingenue' nonetheless managed a best-ever pass of 7.79 seconds at 191 mph back in the day.
One
Wildcat powered by a 430 cubic inch
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One of the last Dickie Harrell Funny Cars built, a slick Camaro bearing his Kansas City high performance logo, waits in the staging lanes at the California Hot Rod Reunion.
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Martin C. Libhart / Courtesy
One of the most beautiful full-bodied dragsters at the Reunion was the Beebe and Mulligan fueler, stunningly recreated by the late, great Pat Foster during his years in Wichita.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Steve Gibbs, the grand marshall of this year's California Hot Rod Reunion, was honored by having his name and nickname emblazoned on the cowl of one of the fuel dragsters that took part in the 20th annual event. He and fellow NHRA official Bernie Partridge were the founders of the Reunion.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
There was plenty of noise about to happen as this three-pack of vintage 1970s funny cars was prepped for competition at the three days of speed at Auto Club Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, Calif.
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Martin C. Libhart / Courtesy
This was one of the cars I kept coming back to. You just can't beat a tastefully done '34 Ford cabriolet in black with red steel wheels and wide whitewall tires.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Art Arfon's `Green Monster' used a powerful World War II Allison aircraft engine for power during both its drag racing and dry lakes land speed record days. It was one of the earliest rear-engined dragsters ever built.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Dale Van Gundy at the controls of the Quarter Pounder Funny Car, at speed in the middle of a qualifying pass.
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Matthew Berry / Courtesy
The Hot Rod Reunion featured an extensive swap meet that attracted plenty of lookers. Somebody could have got a good start on a vintage drag car from this layout alone.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
If there's one name that's synonymous with drag racing, it's Don Garlits, creator of the famed series of `Swamp Rat' dragsters. The car pictured here was `Swamp Rat III,' a short-wheelbase version, but already packing potent supercharged Hemi power in 1961.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Famed hot rod artist Kenny Youngblood strikes a classic pose in the cockpit of Chris `the Greek' Karamasines' vintage front-engined dragster at this year's 20th California Hot Rod Reunion.
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Stan Berry / Courtesy
Shirley Muldowney shattered the gender barrier in the Top Fuel ranks in the late 1970s driving cars like this. She went on to win three NHRA Top Fuel titles before retiring.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Hot rodders are an innovative bunch, as illustrated by this unusual supercharger setup on a mid-1930s Ford Tudor. The twin carburetors were adapted from a World War II vintage tank engine, with custom tubes curving up through the hood and back down to feed the supercharger.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Not as cleanly styled as the popular '40-'41 Willys, this shark-nosed '39 with its strange lidded headlights nonetheless was gearing up to compete as a Gas Coupe.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
This little green roadster had a perfectly detailed early Dodge Red Ram Hemi nestled between its frame rails. Note the color-keyed valve covers and the subtle satin black exhaust headers. Nice!
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Don `the Snake' Prudhomme and Tom `the Mongoose' McEwen helped bring drag racing into everyday life with their match-race Funny Cars sponsored by Mattel's Hot Wheels. Those drag cars are now hauled to nostalgia racing events on fully restored, period-correct transporters.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
This bright red 1967 Plymouth GTX looked ready to resume the A/FX match race wars, with its Hilborn injectors jutting up through the hood, its bumper-mounted fuel tank and a set of fender well headers blasting toward the pavement.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Another blast from the past was the super-clean Moon Eyes dragster in traditional yellow livery. It was one of the most successful cars using a front-mounted supercharger and still looks like a million bucks.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
One of the 2011 Hot Rod Reunion honorees at the opening reception was John Peters, who created the twin-engined `Freight Train' as a way to dominate the Top Gas Dragster class. There actually were several versions of the car over the years, but this is the one most drag racers recognize from its glory days.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
There were plenty of Fiat Altereds to appreciate at the 2011 California Hot Rod Reunion, but none any cleaner or shinier than the beautiful Burkholder Brothers' Hemi-powered machine.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
This is how they built them back in the early '60s. The Schrank Brothers B/FD was a record holder in 1961 with a pass of 8.65 seconds at 183.28 mph. Note the 10-spoke front wheels, the oval fuel tank and the double-loop roll bars protecting the driver.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Who should we run into at Famoso Dragway but two of our longtime Wichita custom car folks, Joanne and Don Beason? They were making a real vacation of it, planning to take in the NHRA races at Las Vegas the following weekend. That's Don on the right, as always clad in Corn Husker red.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Another rarely seen car these days, this 60-something Mercury Meteor appeared to be a survivor, with factory paint and just a set of mag wheels to update its good looks.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
We didn't get a chance to hear this 6-banger Altered fire up, but it must have been an ear-splitting experience.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Any doubts about where the term `funny car' originated are quickly erased when you look at the front and rear wheel placement on this version of the old Doug Thorley Chevy II car. Both the rear axle and the front suspension were shoved forward to provide maximum rear weight transfer at launch. These cars just looked kind of `funny,' but the arrangement worked.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
While classic Fords and Chevies prevailed in the car show area, there were several unusual rides, like this early '40s Plymouth, that got their fair share of attention, too.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Another beautifully restored A/Gas Supercharged coupe on display at the Reunion was K.S. Pittman's `frog-faced' Willys.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
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