Funny Car bodies reflect contemporary production car models at the time they are built. In the NHRA today, four manufacturers are represented: Chevrolet with the Camaro, Dodge with the Charger, Ford with the Mustang, and Toyota with the Supra. A single carbon fiber body can cost $70,000, and fielding a complete Funny Car team costs between $2.6 million and $3 million per season.
The "funny" appearance of these cars has a functional purpose. The body shells serve an important aerodynamic role, generating downforce at speed. The tilt-up design gives the class its nickname of "floppers" — the entire body lifts as one unit to allow access to the engine and chassis.
NHRA rules restrict Funny Car engines to V8s displacing no more than 500 cubic inches (8.2 L). The most widely used design is a Donovan, based loosely on the second-generation Chrysler 426 Hemi. Crankshafts are CNC-machined from steel billet and then nitrided for surface hardness. Intake valves are titanium at 2.40 inches in diameter; exhaust valves are Inconel at 1.90 inches. A Kevlar ballistic blanket over the supercharger is mandatory because that component is prone to explosion.
The fuel mixture is 85 to 90 percent nitromethane with 10 to 15 percent methanol. A single run — including staging, burnout, and the race distance — can consume up to 15 US gallons of fuel. Funny Cars run a fixed gear ratio of 3.20:1, using a multi-stage clutch that provides progressively increasing lockup as the run proceeds, with the rate preset before each run according to track conditions. Wheelbase must fall between 100 and 125 inches, and the car must maintain at least 3 inches of ground clearance.
Since July 2008, NHRA Funny Cars race over 1,000 feet (304 m) rather than the traditional quarter-mile. The change followed the fatal crash of driver Scott Kalitta on June 21, 2008, at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. Pro Stock and sportsman classes continue to run the full quarter-mile.
Funny Cars grew out of the mid-1960s drag racing scene when Top Fuel horsepower began to be combined with bodied cars with radically altered wheelbases. The term "funny car" is attributed to Mercury's chief of racing, Fran Hernandez, in reference to vehicles that looked unusual compared to stock cars. The class traces its roots through Super Stock, Optional Super Stock, A/Factory Experimental (A/FX, introduced by NHRA in 1962), and Experimental Stock categories.
The first cars widely considered "funny" were a trio of 1964 Dodge 330 Max Wedge cars called the Dodge Chargers, prepared by Dragmaster's Jim Nelson and Dode Martin and debuting in March 1964 at San Diego Raceway. That same year, the factory-backed 1964 Mercury Comet driven by Jack Chrisman created a sensation at the NHRA Nationals in Indianapolis, recording a pass of 10.25 seconds at 156.31 mph.
The trend toward flip-top fiberglass "flopper" bodies began in 1966 when Don Nicholson debuted a flip-top, tube-chassis Comet for Mercury. By the end of that season, Eddie Schartman became the NHRA's first official Funny Car title winner at the 1966 World Finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a pass of 8.28 seconds at 174.41 mph. NHRA created Funny Car Eliminator as an official class at the 1969 Winternationals.
Gene Snow recorded the first official 200 mph Funny Car pass in 1969. The first sub-seven-second elapsed time was achieved in 1970 by Leroy Goldstein at Capitol Raceway. In 1984, Mark Oswald became the only driver to win both the NHRA and IHRA Funny Car world championships in the same season.
John Force is the dominant figure in Funny Car history, winning 16 NHRA championships and amassing more than 157 career victories. Between 1997 and 2006, Force reached the final round at 105 of 228 NHRA events and won 61 races. His crew chief Austin Coil holds the record for most wins in that role. Force is also the winningest team owner in Funny Car with 21 championships, as drivers Tony Pedregon, Robert Hight, and Austin Prock have all won titles while on his team.
Twin parachutes deployed at the end of each run are the primary deceleration tool. Roll cages and fire extinguishers are mandatory. NHRA's 2008 track length reduction and subsequent ongoing rule development reflect the organization's continuous response to safety incidents across the class's history.