MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE

Over the holidays the Agent received this photo of what is reportedly the Johnny Loper tribute Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car under construction. It’s apparently a 125-inch Bruce Dyda chassis, but unfortunately the builder of the Plymouth Arrow body had an issue with the measurement and fit of the fiberglass replica, which looks to be about a foot longer. The owner of the car, John Powers III, will be using this body to make a plug and form his own Arrow flopper body to finish the project. Plans had been for the car to debut at the 50th Anniversary March Meet, but with this delay it is doubtful the car will make it to the historic event at Famoso Raceway. [01/02/08]

VIPER VIDEO

Turbo tuner extraordinaire Shane Tecklenburg sent us a line with a link showing the Dodge Viper that he tunes as it went from 0 to over 231 mph on the concrete ex-landing strip at Maxton, NC. The Viper is twin turboed and burns E-85 for fuel.

Now 231 mph is chump change these days for NHRA/IHRA Pro Mods who exceed that speed in just a quarter mile. If there had just been a car in the other lane…. Oh well, it is still a cool deal and a great video for this time of year. [01/02/08]

CHRYSLER CEO CONFIDANT GOING INTO 2008

The following statement is from Robert Nardelli, Chrysler Chairman and CEO:  “There have been several recent media reports that have painted an inaccurate picture of Chrysler LLC’s current financial position. Therefore, the management of Chrysler and our parent company, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., felt it imperative to correct the record since such misinterpretations and misperceptions are misleading and could leave the wrong impression in the minds of investors and other interested parties.

“First and foremost, it is important to note that Chrysler is not only meeting, but, in many cases, exceeding its financial targets heading into 2008.

“Importantly, Chrysler has ample liquidity. We are fully funded with working capital to meet our present and future needs and objectives. We are doing what any other prudent company is doing during this challenging economic environment. We are trying to instill a sense of urgency throughout the workforce, putting our capital to work effectively and efficiently, streamlining inventory, improving current products and developing new and innovative vehicles. Our dealer body is quite pleased that our inventory of vehicles was down another 4 percent in November.