– Pioneer Drag Racer became known as “The Mongoose“
– Most intense rivalry with “The Snake”, as planned
– Voted #16 on NHRA’s Top 50 Driver List
Mostly remembered for introducing “Hot Wheels” as a major motorsports sponsor for himself and Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen had the gift to gab and the smarts to get corporate America to pay him to do what he loved, to drag race. Starting out in the 1950s by taking his mother’s Oldsmobile out to the drag strip (she didn’t know about it!) and then finding a way to get behind the wheel of gas coupes, altereds and eventually fuel dragsters, Southern California’s McEwen became one of the top drag racers by the time the early 1960s arrived.
But there was also another “hot shot” dragster driver in the Los Angeles area, a kid named Don Prudhomme and he was quick at the Christmas Tree starting lights and a good driver, with good equipment to drive. Prudhomme got the name “The Snake” because of his quickness off the starting line, and every so often Tom McEwen would beat him. There was a tale about “Mongoose and Snake” first written in 1894 by an English author (Rudyard Kipling) all about how tough the mongoose animal was and that it was capable of killing a snake … so that was how McEwen got named “The Mongoose” in 1964 and it turned out to be worth literally millions of dollars in promotional value for him, and soon-to-be racing partner Don Prudhomme.
TOP FUEL DRIVER
Here he is at Lions in the Yeakel Chrysler-Plymouth Top Fuel car (which was called AA/FD at the time, for Fuel Dragster), with the “zoomie” upswept headers. “When we first began running zoomie headers, the fumes were so bad in the car, you couldn’t breath,” he shared in National Dragster in 2005, “so I bought a painter’s mask with the two cartridges and took it over to Bill Simpson, who had just begun sewing things in his garage in Torrance (California), and I had him sew it into a face mask for me. That’s how those started.”
AT CARLSBAD
Driving the Yeakel Top Fueler at Carlsbad Raceway in 1964, Mongoose has a remote camera attached when doing a burnout and that photo sequence generated a ton of media exposure, magazine covers, posters and lots of editorial coverage. He was a marketing genius even in these early years.
With the Yeakel dragster (Yeakel was a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership located in Downey, CA) being Mopar® all the way, Gen I HEMI® engine-powered, and the upcoming new 1965 Plymouth Barracuda (Gen II HEMI engine-powered), a great Mopar promotional vehicle, it was clear Mongoose was certainly a member of the “Plymouth Racing Team!”
HEMI CUDA DRIVER
It was also during 1965 when Tom was given the chance to “pilot” the new Plymouth Dealers-sponsored 1965 Barracuda, mid-engined HEMI-powered and a real handful to drive. The HEMI Barracuda was built by B&M Automotive for the West Coast Plymouth Dealers Association, with the engine built by Dave Zeuschel. A great deal of exposure was gained for this car in the drag papers and magazines at the time.
SAT UP HIGH
Drag slicks of the day didn’t offer all that great of traction and as a result, the general rule of thumb during construction was to promote “weight transfer” with a raised up front end. With this particular car having the engine moved from the front to the center area of the interior, and so much air coming underneath the car, well it didn’t keep the front wheels planted on the track!
The car being built at the B&M facility, the program was organized by Lou Baney in getting the Southern California Chrysler-Plymouth dealer network involved.
The seating position was rather unusual! Tom had to sit up close to the dashboard and there was an aluminum protective layer between him and the HEMI engine. This shot shows engine builder Dave Zeuschel talking with Mongoose, while LIONS Track Manager Mickey Thompson (in blue) listening in and young Danny Thompson (white T-shirt), son of Mickey, observing the scene.
It did hit 180 mph early on; however, on a run at Lions, “HEMI Cuda” later took off 30-plus feet in the air like an airplane! He told Hot Rod about it afterwards: “I didn’t see asphalt in front of me anymore, I start seeing air and it’s climbing. So as it’s going up, I shut off the engine and pulled the parachute. It all happened in a matter of seconds. I thought, ‘Oh man this is going to be bad, I know I’m going to hit something hard like a light pole or fence or car.’ It goes up maybe 30 to 40 feet in the air, and when the chute comes out, it tips and starts to roll over and comes down real soft on its side and then it rolls over, staying straight on the dragstrip, sliding on its top. And I could hear the grinding and I’m waiting for it to hit hard. It slides in the gravel at the end of the end of the track. As it was sliding on its roof, it ground through the top and started the headliner on fire, so it’s burning and smoking at the end. The guys at the end of the track come over and I opened the door and hopped out.”
Amazingly, he was able to walk away without injury. “I could do that same ride every day a hundred times if it was just like that. It was smooth as glass – just like Evel Knievel.” After that one time wreck, all through his career he was fortunate to have never been in another terrible crash.
REBUILT AND LOWERED
After the crash, the car was quickly replaced (and now lacking a front bumper) and to help prevent another flight, two leafs were removed from the front leaf spring stack (lowering the front) along with blocking off the opening in the grille. Aerodynamics were still in the learning stages at this point in time, and clearly McEwen wasn’t afraid to climb back in the HEMI Barracuda and run it down the track some more!
MEDIA ATTENTION
Rod & Custom magazine’s December 1965 issue featured the replacement car inside the pages, plus cover shot, which shows the chromed front axle, as well as removal side glass.
The car was also rigged for a movie camera for action shots, shown here mounted with the hood removed, Tom smoking the tires for the full effect.
RETURN TO TOP FUEL
Cover shot on Hot Rod magazine driving the Brand Motors Special Top Fuel car, Mongoose was a hired driver for Lou Baney as well as others, including Jeffy Bivens, Kenny Lindley and Don Johnson. In 1966, Tom won the Hot Rod Magazine Championships at Riverside, ran a factory Ford dragster in ’67, and in 1968 he won the Stardust National Open in Las Vegas, then set a 6.64-second record at the PDA Meet in East Irvine (OCIR).
FRAM FILTER PROMOTION 1968
In this Fram magazine ad, Tom speaks of his nickname and how he got it: “About five or six years ago I had a real contest going with Don Prudhomme who is called ‘The Snake’. One of the boys wanted to find a meaner nickname for me after I beat Don a few times. He came up with ‘The Mongoose’. When I went and looked up what the mongoose is, I found it’s considered one of the quickest animals in the world. I kind of liked that, and the name has just stuck.”
ALWAYS A TALKER
With the “gift to gab” and great promotional ability, Mongoose had a way about himself and it helped him gain popularity!
1969: WENT TO A FUNNY CAR
While the “slingshot” AA/FD cars had a certain following, clearly the movement was going toward the flip-up Funny Cars on Nitro. For the 1969 season, he made a bold move by adding a nitro Funny Car to his operation, and chose a Plymouth Barracuda body. “I’m guessing,” he said in a 1991 newspaper interview, “but I’d say that it probably took $40,000, maybe $50,000, when I toured in 1969 to keep the whole thing afloat. I remember thinking that it sure would be great if somehow we could start off the year with a big deal, then go about match racing and all that.”
Thanks to his connections and his way with words, that very thing did happen when the start of the 1970 season came!
T/F CAR ALSO FOR ’69
Along with his Funny Car, Mongoose was able to acquire a non-automotive sponsor for his racing operation, “Tirend”, an “activity booster” product (to stay awake) that came from a pharmaceutical pill manufacturer, along with “Gold Spot Breath Freshener”. Sid Waterman was listed as engine builder.
REFLECTING ON EARLY DAYS
One of Tom’s big breaks early in his career was when he was offered the chance to test drive the Ron Scrima and Gene Adams’-owned 92-inch wheelbased Albertson Olds Gas Dragster. That ride led to McEwen getting a ride in the “Shark Car” which was nitro-powered. All before he was known as The Mongoose.
1968 MONGOOSE DRAGSTER ON AUCTION
Sold at the 2022 Mecum Kissimmee auction, the beautifully restored 1968 Woody Gilmore-chassised Top Fuel dragster, for the winning sum of $110,000. Restored by Mike Kuhl and Tom Allen, the 186-inch wheelbase car featured a 392 GEN I HEMI engine with 6-71 supercharger, Hilborn fuel injection and set-up for 90-percent nitromethane fuel. The car’s notoriety includes setting low ET at the 1968 US Nationals in Indy (6.64 seconds), winner at the Lions 14th Anniversary Race, plus victory at the Stardust Invitational at the Las Vegas track, both that same year.
MONGOOSE IN SCALE
The 1969 Top Fuel car was done in both 1/24th (metal diecast) and 1/25th (plastic kit) are out of production but can be found on online auctions and retailers.
COMING UP NEXT: MATTEL CORPORATION / HOT WHEELS
For the 1970 racing season, Tom McEwen brainstormed a brilliant marketing proposal to toy maker Mattel to promote their new line of 1/64th scale “Hot Wheels” diecast cars, and teamed with Don Prudhomme to capitalize on their “Mongoose and Snake” monikers!
LIKEABLE AND SENSITIVE
It was brought to light what kind of a guy Tom McEwen was in an interview that came in 1972. This example came from the 1969 NHRA racing season right as the US Nationals were taking place in Indianapolis, the biggest and most prestigious national event of the year.
The night before the race, after Mongoose had qualified both his Top Fuel car and his Barracuda Funny Car, and he had a lot of work to do on the dragster, and was forced to stay up all night and work on it in preparation for first round.
And his good friends, John Mulligan and Tim Beebe, who were rivals in the Top Fuel class, had a good laugh when they learned the “hero” driver McEwen was forced to do all the required work to get the car ready.
“Those guys really got a kick out of seeing me get dirty,” he shared. But when Mulligan had a fatal crash, Tom told of his great sorrow at the loss, death, of his good friend. Tom immediately withdrew both of his cars from competition as a tribute to a fallen friend.”
Tom Holland McEwen
1937-2018
Author: James Maxwell
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