Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen: The Story Continues

We left off in Part I of the story of famous drag racer Tom McEwen with the 1969 season where “The Mongoose” had been running both a Top Fuel dragster and a Nitro Funny Car in competition, and with a huge new “Hot Wheels” program to come!

ENTER MATTEL TOY MAKER

What kicked off the 1970 drag racing sensation was a brand-new name to enter the NHRA racing scene, a “Snake and Mongoose” major sponsorship arrangement. It was an unprecedented cash program that changed the face of drag racing! McEwen was bold enough to go to the huge toy maker Mattel with a sponsorship proposal to have the company fund a pair of Funny Cars for he and Don Prudhomme to play up the rivalry between the two well-known racers. Mattel could use this to promote the toy maker’s newly released line of “Hot Wheels” toy cars. It worked, and with a huge delivery of cash for the newly founded “Wildlife Racing” team. A pair of 1970 Plymouth Funny Cars (a Duster for McEwen and a ’Cuda for Prudhomme) ready for action on the drag strips of America. Besides all the race track action, these cars also made appearances at stores and shopping centers promoting the newly released Hot Wheels toy cars.

PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED LOGOS

Gracing the cover of the August 1970 issue of Hot Rod magazine was Tom and crew with the Hot Wheels Duster and Dodge transporter rig. Hot Wheels, Coca-Cola and Plymouth logos were clearly and boldly displayed. The Hot Wheels cars were showcased all over America, including drag strips, Rapid Transit displays and even TV appearances. There were reports that Don “The Snake” Prudhomme wasn’t exactly pleased when he saw this magazine cover for the first time! It seems even though there was a full partnership between the two of them, it remained a true rivalry in the way of which one could generate the most “ink” and this full cover shot was a huge media play!

“When we did the Mattel deal, we hooked up Sports Headliners Management Group, which was representing Mario Andretti and the Unser brothers. The group got us deals with Plymouth, Coca-Cola, Federal-Mogul, Champion Spark Plugs, Wynn’s and a bunch of others who wanted to be involved to get their decals on the Hot Wheels cars. That was the first time you saw people getting secondary sponsors because of their primary sponsor,” McEwen shared with NHRA’s National Dragster in 2005. “The Mattel deal was about $25,000 a year, which doesn’t sound like much now, but it was good money back then.” The 1970 car ran a Ramchargers-prepped HEMI^® engine with Engle camshaft. 

1971 HOT WHEELS DRAGSTER

This was Mongoose’s last “slingshot” dragster, and the unusual rear body portion was designed specially for the Mattel Hot Wheels toy line, and shaped in a way to make it easier for the toy maker to mass-produce the scale diecasts. Very strange design with no real function on the 1:1 car. He and Snake were not happy about it!

MONGOOSE II DUSTER

For the 1971-72 racing season, the car was changed with a modernized narrow chassis design and revised Duster body shell, plus a change to Ed Pink power. Part of the Mattel deal now included markings of the Monogram plastic model kit maker.

Staging up against the Pisano & Matsubara car and waiting for the Christmas Tree to be activated, it’s a night at the iconic Orange County International Raceway. The signed B&W image was shot and provided by Auto Imagery, and was distributed at the Tom McEwen Memorial that took place at the NHRA Wally Parks Museum … a fantastic look at the man and one of his most famous cars.

BRAVE PHOTO SHOOT

It was Alan Earman who expertly captured the Mongoose and his dragster at the Lion Country Safari in Irvine, CA, with a group of cheetahs … well, truth be told, it all happened as a result of double exposure photography!

This dragster featured a chassis built by Don Garlits and after this photo shoot, a front wing was added for stability. It’s a 215-inch wheelbase car and was fitted with a 482-cube Ed Pink powerplant. He won the Bakersfield March Meet with it in 1972.

LIONS LAST DRAG RACE WINNER

Whipping arch-rival Prudhomme in the finals, it was a big win for McEwen on December 2, 1972, at “The Last Drag Race” at Lions Drag Strip. In front of nearly 20,000 fans, it was a classic “Mongoose vs. Snake” drag race!

CARE-FREE SUGARLESS GUM

For the third year of the Wildlife Racing program, there was definitely a new look! While most of the original sponsors (Plymouth, Coca-Cola, Wynn’s, Pennzoil, Champion Spark Plugs) remained, the major sponsor was Care-Free Sugarless Gum. Hot Wheels actually stayed on, however at a lower level. The Duster body remained and there was always changes to the engine and clutch setup. He saw victory in the Funny Car category at the 1973 SuperNationals at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. It was the first National Event win for Mongoose, and he got there in a very unusual manner. After not qualifying for the event, being #17 provided the opportunity for him to jump into the field when Bobby Rowe was unable to make the first round, and that is when McEwen went into a winning mode, beating Dave Condit, Jim Dunn and then Jim Nicoll before getting a single in the finals! A win is a win!

The McEwen Top Fuel car for ’73 was unique as it was fitted with Cragar spun aluminum from wheels rather than the traditional spoke-type wheels.

ENGLISH LEATHER / FLY NAVY

For 1974, after the Mattel deal totally went away, Tom hustled up support from English Leather and the US Navy while continuing to run a Plymouth Duster. Funny Cars were the rage and many tracks enjoyed booking Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen versus Don “The Snake” Prudhomme as it had become a Navy vs. Army promotion and proved to be a popular way of getting fans in the stands!

Starting in 1974, Funny Car driver John Collins was hired by McEwen as a “team driver” in a #2 Duster, running the very lucrative match race circuit as it was impossible for the Mongoose himself to make it everywhere! Collins drove for Tom through the 1976 season.

THE BIG WIN FOR JAMIE

It was 1978 at the biggest race of the year, NHRA U.S. Nationals, with McEwen and Prudhomme both making it to the finals of the event. Mongoose beat Prudhomme in a huge, emotional victory. It was just two weeks prior that Tom’s son Jamie had died from leukemia, and on his death bed he told his dad to go to the race “and beat the Snake.” That was a major challenge as Snake’s Army car was nearly unbeatable all season, but somehow (maybe with some help from above), the English Leather Corvette crossed the finish line first. Both Mongoose and Snake cried afterwards with fond memories of the lost son. Winning the U.S. Nationals rejuvenated Tom McEwen as he had considered quitting the sport after his son died, but somehow he got the strength to carry on and continue racing.

MOBIL 1 TOP FUEL DRIVER

Driving for Jack Clark’s Top Fuel team, and with Mobil 1 Oil as the main backer, Mongoose was right there with the rivalry again with Don Prudhomme (who had transitioned from Funny Car to Top Fuel). And to show that Tom had not forgotten how to perform, he drove the car to victory at the 1991 NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J.

“I always liked the Funny Cars more because they’re more of a driver’s car, but I have to admit that when I drove Jack Clark’s Top Fueler in 1992, that was nice. It was a Cadillac, 300 inches long, the motor behind you, going straight as a string.” 

RESTORED TRANSPORTER, MONGOOSE II RECREATION

It was 2011 when Don Prudhomme finished the lengthy restoration of the original Mongoose Dodge truck transporter, and also did up a “tribute” Duster to match. Part of the fun was when in the back lot of Snake’s shop in Vista, CA, they staged up and positioned to mirror the Hot Rod magazine cover shot!

THE MOVIE

In 2013, the movie “Snake and Mongoose” was released with the story line documenting the two men’s lives. All based on the real experiences and hardships that came along with all the glory. Snake was always the serious racer, Mongoose liked racing, but also had fun away from the drag strip competition. Alan Paradise wrote the screenplay and the movie Snake and Mongoose remains a favorite for drag racing fans of all ages.

BARRETT-JACKSON AUCTION

At Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2014, the Mongoose transporter/Duster and Snake transporter/Barracuda combo was put up for auction, bidding halted at $1 million. While they didn’t meet the reserve, a purchase was arranged afterwards by Rick Hendrick. These vehicles helped add a lot of authenticity to the movie!

MILLIONS SOLD

There were millions of Hot Wheels sold, with Snake and Mongoose in high numbers (only Mattel knows which of the two outsold one another!); however, many of the kids bought both of them back in the day! They are still being sold today (and not just by kids!). This is a current example of the Hot Wheels Mongoose 1970 Plymouth Duster.

MONGOOSE KITS / WALL ART

MPC by Ertl created a 1/25th scale 1972 Mongoose rear engine dragster kit, complete with newly tooled parts, pad-printed drag slicks and molded in Metallic Blue. While these classic kits (#MPC855-12) are long gone from the hobby shop, they still can be found on eBay.

The 1976 “Shooting Stars” car as a custom-build 1/25th scale model, created with a resin Duster body and Chuck Boerner decal. Also available is the “English Leather” garage art sign from aluminum with baked colors, also from the last year that McEwen ran a Plymouth body.

THE BOOK

Mongoose: The Life and Times of Tom McEwen is a 240-page book edited by Randy Fish that was published in 2009, all about McEwen from the early days forward. Included in the pages is coverage of how the Hot Wheels deal came about, his take on the “tire wars” and when he ran his Funny Car against an F-14 Jet. Numerous rare photos!

Tom on how he wanted to be remembered:

“As a good guy – kind of a smart aleck guy who liked people and enjoyed what he did. I was serious at the track but had fun away from it.” 

Author: James Maxwell