In 1969, prodded to action by the death of John Mulligan earlier in the year, Woody Gilmore (following the mid-engined Funny Car he built for Doug Thorley) and Pat Foster developed a rear-engined fuel dragster, which was unveiled in December.[1] Gilmore and Foster built a similar car for Dwane Ong, incorporating the lessons of the previous car; vertical struts, with no wing (yet), prevented side-to-side motion. Powered by a Ramchargers-built engine, Pawnbroker ran 10–11 in (250–280 mm)-wide M&H slicks on 12 in (300 mm)-wide rims, rather than the usual 12 in (300 mm) and 16 in (410 mm) widths.[1]
Sponsored by Hastings Manufacturing's oil additive, Torque, it debuted in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1970, and wore livery of white overall with red and blue longitudinal stripes along the side.[1]
In August, Ong won the 1970 AHRA Nationals in the car.[1]
Pawnbroker won the American Hot Rod Association (AHRA) Summernats in Long Island, New York, the first national event win for a rear-engined car, with a pass of 6.83 at 219 mph (352 km/h).[2] Ong ran the car mostly at AHRA events before switching back to Funny Car.[1]
