Garlits Collection - Cars That Made Drag Racing History
by Mike Mueller
The history of drag racing goes back more than half a century – and in those 50 years, there are a handful of people who have become drag racing heroes and maintained that status. One of those few is “Big Daddy� Don Garlits. But it isn’t just his racing accomplishments that set Big Daddy apart. This is a man who truly loves drag racing, and on his own he has constructed one of the best motorsports museums in the world – The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, in Ocala, Florida.

Garlits is one of the most prolific record setters and innovators ever to blast the quarter mile, so who better to pick the cars that illustrate the sport’s history? His museum contains hundreds of cars, but in this book, author Mike Mueller takes an in-depth look at the cream of the crop – the most significant cars in Big Daddy’s museum, and probably the most significant cars in all of drag racing.

From primitive machines like The Bug – so rough it’ll tear your pants – to Garlits’ own Swamp Rat 34 – a high-tech top fueler with thousands of horsepower on tap, and everything in between. Funny cars, Pro/Stocks, Fuel Coupes, roadsters, streamliners, Super Stocks, Gassers and more – this book covers them all, with spectacular color photos of the restored machines, right alongside vintage black-and-white images from Garlits’ own collection. By the time you’re done with this book, you’ll understand not just the cars, but the history of drag racing and the life and times of one of its legendary figures – Don Garlits.