In 1971, Don Garlits turned the Top Fuel world around with Swamp Rat 14, his successful rear-engine dragster. Photo and video courtesy of NHRA.  

Don Garlits didn’t invent the rear-engine dragster, of course. Rail jobs with the engine behind the driver were as old as drag racing, more or less. They were more trouble than they were worth, however, and racers stuck with their familiar front-engine setups. But after Big Daddy was nearly killed when the transmission exploded on his conventional  front-engine dragster in 1970, amputating much of his left foot, he vowed to make a change.

In the dominant slingshot layout, drivers sat directly behind the engine with their legs straddling the drivetrain, an absurdly hazardous configuration. Clearly, all that dangerous hardware belonged behind the driver. But it wasn’t that simple, Big Daddy and crew discovered as they struggled to sort out the handling of Swamp Rat 14, his first rear-engine chassis. They had all but given up on the project when Don’s late wife Pat laid down the law and told them to make it work. Ultimately they discovered that their existing steering gear was too fast for the responsive chassis, and once they slowed down the steering ratio, the new car (also known as Swamp Rat R1) tracked as straight as an arrow.

Big Daddy’s rear-engine car wasn’t just safer; it was also clearly superior to the old front-engine diggers. At its first NHRA national event, the 1971 Winternationals in Pomona, Swamp Rat 14 qualified ninth and marched through the field to take top eliminator honors. A revolution began, and in less than two seasons the old slingshots were history, replaced by the same general layout used in Top Fuel today. (Although much of the racing world would call this configuration mid-engine, drag racers favor the term rear-engine.) In 2011, in honor of the organization’s 60th anniversary, NHRA selected the story as one of the sport’s top 60 moments. Video below.