"Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" This was the cry heard over Chicagoland airwaves in the mid 1960s. Loud radio ads shouted at the listener to come out to U.S. 30 Dragstrip in Gary, Indiana, to see the new, radically modified stock cars duke it out on the quarter-mile. When Chrysler engineers moved both sets of tires forward to gain a weight distribution advantage, a strange looking breed of Detroit iron was born. Ford and GM racers followed Mopar's lead and soon a weight reduction/power escalation war was on. Stock cars were stripped of excessive weight; fuel injection replaced carburetors; nitromethane then replaced gasoline; and finally, blowers were added. The sanctioning bodies and media tried all kinds of dignified sounding names to identify these wild cars that evolved from the early '60s factory wars: Experimental Stock, Exhibition Stock, Factory Altereds, and Match Racers. Of course, the most embarrassing and goofy name stuck with the fans..."Funny Cars!"

Automotive artist James Ibusuki's painting portrays one of the best remembered Funny Car feuds: Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick's "Tameless Tiger" against Mr. Norm's Grand-Spaulding Dodge Coronet at legendary U.S. 30 Dragstrip in the spring of 1966. Mr. Norm's hired

gun, Gary Dyer expertly drove and tuned the big Hemi Dodge while Beswick was a hands-on owner, driver, and tuner. This two out of three match race billing had it all: Dodge vs Pontiac, the big city car dealers vs the farmer, and big money vs little money. Both cars are shown pulling power wheelstands with Beswick's '63 Tempest hybrid launching completely skyward!

The altered wheelbase Funny Car era would soon end with the debut of Mercury's flip-top Comets. Their combination of a one-piece fiberglass body draped over a sophisticated tube frame chassis quickly outclassed the pioneer AWB cars and made them obsolete within a year. Gone, but certainly not forgotten, the early match racers are recaptured by Ibusuki at the height of their glory days with "The Sunday Funnies," a limited-edition lithograph.

Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, this museum-quality lithograph is limited to 950 numbers. The image area is 13"x 32" with ample borders for framing. In addition to being signed and numbered by the artist, each print is autographed by Arnie Beswick and Norm Kraus!

COLLECTORS PLEASE NOTE:
The edition of 950 lithographs is completely sold out. However, a small amount of the exclusive Artist Proof edition remain. Limited to 95 proofs, they consist of the same size and paper as the main edition but carry the more coveted "A/P" number identification.
In addition, Arnie Beswick and Norm Kraus have added extra touches to their signatures just for the Artist Proofs. Beswick added his "Farmer" moniker to his autograph while Mr. Norm added his slogan "The Hi-Performance King" to his signature. No further editions will be issued after the Artist Proofs are sold out. Several "Sunday Funnies" Artist Proofs have already been purchased by serious collectors. Don't hesitate, this will be your final opportunity to own this highly collectible piece of drag racing art!