The ‘77 English Leather Corvette, featuring its new and improved air dam-added rear spoiler.

I’d been wheeling Mopar-bodied Funny Cars since I got into that line of racing work. It all started with the infamous “Flying Fish,” the Southern California Plymouth Dealers’ rear-engine Barracuda.  In quick succession came the ex-Candies & Hughes Barracuda then on to the Dusters from Hot Wheels through Beechnut, finally ending with the Navy/English Leather rides. Those Dusters were aerodynamic bricks, especially compared with all of the swoopy body styles the GM and Ford guys were sporting. Plus, Chrysler wasn’t digging deep into its corporate pockets to keep me on board. So, come 1977, it was time to move on. (more…)