Don Garlits Top-fuel Dragster <I>Swamp Rat XXX</I>
date: label: date made
content: 1985-1986
name: label: user
content: Garlits, Donald G.
label: maker
content: Garlits, Donald G.
notes: label: Description
content: Swamp Rat XXX is a drag racing car of the top-fuel class, designed, built and raced by Don Garlits of Ocala, Florida. Garlits, better known as "Big Daddy," is one of the pioneers of drag racing, which is a test of acceleration on quarter-mile tracks. He began racing in 1950 in modified stock cars at Zephyr Hills, Fla., not far from his home in Tampa, shifting to drag racing in 1959. Over a 30-year career, he was one of the most innovative builders in the sport.
label: Description
content: Swamp Rat XXX won the National Hot Rod Association championship in 1986 with a quarter-mile speed of 272.55 miles an hour. It crashed at a race in Spokane, Washington, and, along with Garlits, retired from active competition.
label: Description
content: The vehicle displays the state of drag racing art in the 1980s: a very long wheelbase, small front wheels to minimize aerodynamic drag, engine in the rear, and a wing for added aerodynamic down force. The engine placement puts most of the vehicle's weight on the rear or driving wheels and behind the driver for safety reasons in case of an engine blow-up.
label: Description
content: The car is covered with emblems, chiefly of sponsoring corporations. It carries a Christian cross and the words "God is Love," reflecting Garlits' experience in 1959 when, after an accident, his system could not handle pain-killing drugs. In severe pain, he cried out, "Lord help me," and his pain ceased.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Florida
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Sports & Leisure
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content: Automobiles
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content: Religion
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content: Road Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Don Garlits, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0889.01
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0889.01
label: accession number
content: 1987.0889
objectType: label: Object Name
content: dragster
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)