The Mystery Pink Dragster

Never stop learning. That’s a piece of advice I have been given multiple times throughout my life and every time I hear it, I take it to heart. Although it’s applicable across the board, I find it especially prevalent in regards to these hot rods and custom cars. Case in point, we have today’s subject.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends asked me if I could identify the dragster you see pictured above. I studied the blurry snapshot, shuffled through my mental archive and stumbled around on the Internet before I realized that I plumb didn’t know. Never one to back away from a vintage drag racing detective mission, I slid the image onto my desktop and labeled it “Mystery Pink Dragster.”

And there it sat, waiting patiently beneath a little blue folder filled with what I’d like to think are “Working Writing Pieces” and a CD that I never finished burning. I’d click on the Fueler now and again, hoping that I would be able to pick up on something I hadn’t noticed earlier.

Here’s what I’ve collected. Judging by the wheelbase and drivetrain setup, this is an AA/Fuel Dragster that was running in Southern California in the 1964/1965 timeframe. This particular shot is from Mickey Thompson’s Fontana International Dragway (you can tell by the timing tower). The tri-tone candy pink and Plexiglas airfoil are extra flashy, which lead me to believe this rail may have also spent a minute on the show circuit. Did Don Tognotti have something to do with it? And then there are those pipes—part weedburner, part zoomie and unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. Didn’t I see someone selling those on the H.A.M.B. awhile back? Couldn’t be.

Yes, the car’s pink, but I’m almost certain there’s no Ed Pink connection here. Well, how about the Cerny rail from that bitchin’ overhead Ed Stein photo that The Rodder’s Journal ran in issue #32? No, that had an injected smallblock and it didn’t have a ’chute pack body. The nose was different, too. Maybe Sheldon Konblett was into Fuelers before he built the “Peanuts” Galaxie and ill-fated “Snoopy” Jaguar E-Type Funny Car? Nope, not the case.

There you have it—dead ends across the board. So I suppose we’ll wind down the week with yet another mystery. Can any of you tell me the story of the Mystery Pink Dragster? I’m dying to learn.

—Joey Ukrop