Last month we showed you many of the best AA/Fuel Alterds of the mid to late 1960's here in Mike Kelly's Cruise News. This month thanks to ace photographer Steve Reyes we will bring you a look at some of the top cars in AA/Fuel Alterd competition from the late 1960's through the early 1970's. If you were lucky enough to see these supercharged, nitro burning monsters rip down a quarter mile dragstrip at their zenith of popularity, you know how wild and unpredictable they were. If you missed the "good old days" of AA/FA racing enjoy the photos. Now, on with part two of our look at the AA/Fuel Alterds from the "Golden Age" of drag racing...........

By the time the late 1960's rolled around the drag racing scene was changing. Most of the really fast AA/FA's were still running the ever popular early Chrysler Hemi, while some teams continued to do well with big block Chevy power, and a few others even experimented with the late model Chrysler Hemi. The famous "Pure Hell" car had switched from a small block Chevy to an early Chrysler Hemi as the small block could no longer run at the head of the pack. But there was trouble on the horizon for the AA/FA's, and that trouble was called Funny Cars. At that point in time nitro burning Funny Cars were far and away the most popular drag racing machines on the planet, and their popularity continued to grow into the early 1970's. The major car makers in Detroit liked the fact that fans could identify their make of car on the track with Funny Car racing. Many Funny Car teams recieved factory help in one form or another. The Funny Cars were beginning to turn elapsed times nearly as quick as Top Fuel Dragsters. As a result of the growing popularity of Funny Cars, especially on the match race scene, AA/Fuel Alterd racers found themselves with less and less places to race. When they did get to race it was usually for smaller purses. The fans wanted to see Funny Cars and the event promoters around the country noticed. At NHRA national events the nitro burning AA/FA's found themselves racing in Competition Eliminator, a handicap start "sportsman" class. In the meantime the Funny Cars now had full fledged professional classes to race heads up in at major events around the country. This was a tough time for fans and racers that loved the evil handling, nitro burning "Awful, Awful's".

Then in 1974 NHRA had decided to run a new class called Pro Comp. It was a heads up catagory for former Competition Eliminator classed blown gas burning Dragsters, supercharged alcohol or injected nitro Funny Cars, and blown alcohol roadsters (known as AA/Alterds). AA/FA's were just dropped from Competition Eliminator leaving the nitro racers with no place to run. If they wanted to run Pro Comp they had to switch to running straight alcohol. Many of the AA/FA racers switched over to running nitro Funny Cars, including the always popular "Wild" Willie Borsch. Some switched to Pro Comp with AA/Alterds on alcohol. Some of the die hard Fuel Alterd racers continued to match race or run outlaw events when they could, but the days of the AA/Fuel Alterd in drag racing were basically finished.

To this day there are still some "outlaw" type Fuel Alterds around, however they race on a limited, exhibition type basis. Some of the older cars of the sixties and seventies have been restored to near original and race at nostalgia events. NHRA and IHRA do not offer open competition classes for AA/Fuel Alterds at this time. The modern AA/FA's of today do not resemble the cars of the sixties and seventies much, as they have basically turned into a Funny Car with a roadster body mounted on top.

Sometimes the "good old days" are not near as good as we like to remember them as being. AA/Fuel Alterds were high powered, nasty, short wheelbased, wicked, evil machines that were very, very dangerous. The safety of those cars was marginal at best, especially with the cars that ran in the 1960's. Many serious accidents occured. However, for the racers that had the guts to build and drive one, and for the fans that were lucky enough to see them at their peak, the AA/Fuel Alterds provided some of the greatest thrills and memories in drag racing history. Man, am I glad I got to see them race!! CN

Looking for a classic drag racing photo of your favorite car or star? Chances are Steve Reyes has it. Or if you would like a professional photo shoot with your car, you can contact Steve Reyes via e-mail at sb.reyes@cox.net