1989 PONTIAC TRANS AM 'SKOAL BANDIT' FUNNY CAR

Details

Winner of the 1989 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and a Bud Shootout Champion, this is the last funny car drag racing superstar Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme drove in his career before returning to the Top Fuel ranks in 1990. Prudhomme drove the car to a 5.17-second run and a new NHRA record in the process of winning the Budweiser-sponsored Bud Shootout at Indianapolis, where it also won the Funny Car Eliminator at the U.S. Nationals on the same weekend. 'The Snake' describes the Skoal Tobacco-

and Pontiac-sponsored 'flopper' as 'an unbelievably quick car,' noting that the team spent a great deal of time in Pontiac Division's wind tunnel facility refining the shape of the body to direct air flow toward the engine's air injector scoop and to produce extra downforce at the rear. The latter feature attracted the attention of NHRA officials, who promptly outlawed it after the U.S. Nationals. The car is powered by a supercharged, nitro-burning aluminum block HEMI engine with fuel injection, Mallor twin magneto ignition and overdrive transmission; it utilized a tube frame with solid-mounted front and rear suspension and a 12-gallon fuel tank, and rolls on Goodyear Racing rubber surrounding Cragar wheels. This was the first NHRA funny car to break into the 'teens' with 5.193 seconds/265.8 mph in Houston on March 2, 1989, and, still festooned in its original Skoal Tobacco livery, is ready to run. **SOLD ON BILL OF SALE ONLY**