Anyone that was "hot rodding" around in the 50s and 60s knows of the legendary "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, who is considered to be the "Father of Drag Racing." Garlits was the innovator of numerous drag racing design concepts, safety items, and the first drag racer to officially surpass the 170, 180, 200, 240, 250, and 270 miles per hour (MPH) marks in the quarter mile. Although retired for many years, in 2014, at the age of 82, Garlits set a 184 MPH speed record in an EV dragster. (A battery-powered electric vehicle that did not burn fuel!)
In 1949 Don started working in a gas station near his home in North Tampa doing odd jobs and helping Slim Cantrell work on the Midget race car "Duce of Hearts." Don was a good student and learned a lot about Flathead Ford engines, plus he acquired his first car, a 1940 Ford Tudor Sedan. This was the start of his love for racing and fast cars!
By 1954, Don was ready to build his first "real" race car. Under an oak tree at his home in Tampa, using an electric welder and gas torch, he modified an old 1927 Ford Model "T" Roadster with a 1948 modified Mercury engine, '39 Ford Floor Shift transmission, and a '48 Ford differential. In the quarter mile he turned 93 MPH with an elapse time (ET) of 13.5 seconds.
Don then came up with the idea to build a "rail-type dragster" by using two sets of Model "T" frame rails welded together for a longer wheelbase. This would give the dragster better traction because the engine could be moved back and the driver's seat could be located behind the differential. With this "slingshot" dragster Don won the first Nation Hot Rod Association (NHRA) event he entered with an ET of 12.1 seconds and a speed of 108 MPH. However, the dragster was so "ugly" that Hot Rod would not run a picture of the dragster in their magazine.
The first national drag racing meet sponsored by the NHRA was held in Great Bend, Kansas in 1955. Being from Florida, Garlits was considered to be an outsider and he picked up the nickname "Swamp Rat." Don liked the nickname, so he started using it on all of his future dragsters.
"Swamp Rat (SR) I" debuted at the Brooksville (Florida) dragstrip in the Spring of 1956 as just rails with an engine, but was then rebuilt into a nicer looking dragster. Using SR #1 Don set the first World Record at Brooksville on November 10, 1957, and then went on to win the 1958 American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) National Championship with a speed of 176.40 MPH and an ET of 8.79 seconds. In 1959 a blower was installed on the engine, which increased the speeds, but also increased the dangers.
In the early days of drag racing, the drivers typically just wore blue jeans and a white "T" shirt. Don's wife, however, was concerned about his safety and worried that if he ever rolled over he wold get cut up; so she bought him a leather jacket and insisted that he wear the jacket when racing. Don also wore a helmet and goggles, but no gloves. Then during a race on June 20, 1959, the engine's blower exploded and Don was seriously burned. This was the first time in drag race history that a blower had ever exploded.
The doctors wanted to amputate Don's hands but he refused to let them operate. After four months of soaking his hands in a solution, he was released from the hospital and eventually regained full use of his hands. Art Malone drove the car for Don until he was able to return to racing.
In 1966 the car was severely damaged in a major tornado and left in a junk yard behind his garage. (For the 1979 NHRA US Nationals, Garlits restored the car and as part of the opening ceremonies. He then made a 165 MPH run for a standing crowd with tears in their eyes. When talking about the Swamp Rat I, Don often says, "It's my favorite car in the whole world; it made me what I am today!")
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| Replica of Swamp Rat I |
Don was well liked on the drag race circuit and was always willing to help other racers. In 1962 Connie Kalitta had a dragster built by Loggee Stamping Company, but the dragster would never perform up to expectation. Garlits was asked to look at the car to see what was wrong with its performance and after making some adjustments, he got in the dragster and set the NHRA National Record of 180.36 MPH. The race announcer was so excited that after the run he ran up to Garlits and said that he was just a "Big Daddy" to everyone.The nickname stuck and after that time Don has always been known as "Big Daddy" Don Garlits.
In 1966 "Big Daddy" and Emery Cook built SR #9 for Dodge. This was the first plastic bodied, steel tubing funny car to exceed 200 MPH. The car was then outlawed by NHRA and never raced again.
In 1967, after not qualifying for the NHRA Spring Nationals held at Bristol, Tennessee, "Big Daddy" went home and built Swamp Rat XI in 72 hours. Garlits then grew a beard and vowed not to shave until the car broke into the sixes (seconds). Later that year the dragster won the US Nationals, turning an ET of 6.77 seconds. Garlits got to shave and the car gained the nickname "The Eliminator." The dragster was on display in the Peterson Museum in Hollywood for a number of years, but is now back in Florida.
"Swamp Rat 12B was built in the Spring of 1968 and was the first dragster to go over 240 MPH. Later in the year it won the Spring Nationals and the US Nationals. The car was sold in 1969 for an overseas tour and then lost for a number of years. In 1982 Garlits found the dragster in a Wynns International warehouse in Belgium and was able to reacquire the car for his museum.
"Big Daddy" was not superstitious when he named "Swamp Rat 13," but the dragster later earned the nickname "The Bomb." In a California race on March 8, 1970, the transmission exploded, cutting the dragster in half and amputated part of "Big Daddy's" right foot. After surgery, the doctors wanted to give him pain medicine, but Don refused. "Big Daddy" later said that the pain was so intense he started praying and crying out for help, when suddenly the pain went away and he felt at peace. He was certain that his prayer was answered. A short time later he started painting a cross on his cars with the words "God is Love."
TC and Connie Swingle repaired the car while "Big Daddy" was recuperating in the hospital and the car went on to win a number of races.
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| Photographer Unknown |
After returning to Florida, and although he was confined to a wheelchair, Don started making parts for his new rear-engine "Swamp Rat 14" dragster. The dragster was completed in October and in numerous runs the car handled so poorly that it ran off of the track in every race. After three months the car was parked behind the garage and work started on a front-engine "Swamp Rat 15" dragster. When Don's wife saw what they were doing she "went ballistic, she wanted to know why would I give up on the project? She told the three of us in no uncertain terms to get back on the RE (rear-engine) Project! We did, determined that the steering was too fast, and the rest is history. Swamp Rat 14 set the all time quickest ET at Indy, a blistering 6.21 seconds and ran over 240 most of the time." "Swamp Rat 14" put an end to the era of front-engine sling-shot dragsters for all racers.
In 1975 Garlits built "Swamp Rat 22," which became the most feared T/F dragster of all time by "Big Daddy's" competitors. It was the first T/F dragster over 250 MPH with an ET of 5.63 seconds and won the 1975 NHRA World Championship. The record stood for 7 years.
"Swamp Rat 24" was "Big Daddy's" winningest T/F dragster. The car won 24 out of 30 national events in two years, bring home $606,00 in prize money! This was the first Garlits dragster to display the "God is Love" cross and went on to set the all time AHRA T/F record of 252.70 MPH. The dragster had been sponsored by the US Navy, but after Garlits painted a cross on the car, the Navy pulled their sponsorship and the LA Times started making fun of "Big Daddy" for having a religious cross on his car. However, Garlits left the cross on all future dragsters.
On the first outing of "Swamp Rat 29" in Phoenix, the rear wing collapsed and "Big Daddy" set a drag racing record for the world's fastest "tumble" at 259 MPH. Garlits was unhurt, so they rebuilt the car and then went on to win the 1985 Winston World Championships, setting numerous track records in the process.
"Swamp Rat XXX" was "the last word in Top Fuel dragsters" at the time it was constructed. It was very streamlined and the first time out it broke the 270 MPH barrier. Unfortunately, in the process of setting another world record, the car flipped over backwards part way down the track. The dragster was rebuilt and went on to win the 1986 NHRA World Championships. While the car was being rebuilt, the Smithsonian Museum contacted "Big Daddy" and wanted the dragster for their automotive collection; so in October 1987, Swamp Rat XXX was donated to the Smithsonian where it is still on display today.
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| Photographer Unknown |
"Big Daddy" had always wanted to run at Bonneville (Utah Salt Flats), but never had the time to build a car. Then in 1988 he had the opportunity to drive a streamliner in the FX/GS class that had a speed record of 176.993 MPH. Driving "Swamp Rat 33," "Garlits set a new FX/GS Class speed record of 217.947 MPH on August 18, 1988 and became a member of the Bonneville "200 MPH Club."
"Swamp Rat 34" was an experimental car and it was the last of the "Swamp Rat" dragsters. It was the "most modern, aerodynamic Top Fuel dragster ever built, even to this day... and (ran) 323.04 MPH in 4.76 seconds." However, this dragster was built at at time when the NHRA was trying to slow the T/F cars down...in 2003, I made my last run in #34...310.81 MPH and my wife asked me real nice, not to do it anymore, and I haven't."
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| Photographer Unknown |
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| WW II P-40 fighter plane V-12 Allison Engine |
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| Two Olds "Rocket" engines in series |
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| Design caused SR 17 to go "airborne" at 167 MPH |
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| 1993 Pontiac Firebird Jet Engine Funny Car |
As part of the museum, there is also an engine display room.
Don Garlits also has a classic car museum adjacent to the drag race museum.
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| President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Car |
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| World's Fastest Lawnmower |
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