If you’d like to own a part of history (and when we say part of history, we mean half of the car), then that very opportunity exists right now, as the Darrell Gwynn Foundation is currently auctioning the original 1985 Ford Tempo Funny Car body that draped over legendary racer and team owner Kenny Bernstein and became one of the most dominant race cars of the era. The eBay auction, which has received zero bids as of this writing, has an opening bid price of $14,999.
Bernstein won the 1985 NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship in this very car, setting an elapsed time record of 5.569 seconds, won 38 elimination rounds, and scored eight national events wins combined in the NHRA and IHRA that year. “The King of Speed” also won his sponsor’s bonus race, the Big Bud Shootout, at Indianapolis.
The Tempo body, still sporting all of the original lettering, including the Budweiser, Motorcraft, LaPaz, and KangaROOS Shoes signage, along with all of the sponsor and contingency decals, are still affixed to the car just as they were in 1985. Bernstein and his legendary crew chief, Dale Armstrong, have autographed the body and a separate information panel that go along with the body in the sale. Fortunately for those that want to see this body saved for collection purposes in a museum, and unfortunately for those that who would rather see it mounted atop a Nostalgia Funny Car, the sale comes with the caveat that the buyer agrees the body will be used solely for display/collectable purposes and not be utilized in competition.
The auction, coordinated by the Darrell Gwynn Foundation, will raise money to support those effected by paralysis and help to prevent spinal cord injuries. In the decade-plus since Gwynn founded his organization, charitable auctions just like this one have allowed him to deliver more than 300 motorized wheelchairs to victims of paralysis.