Dwarf cars started in the late '70s in Arizona. Executive
Editor Glen Grissom recalls seeing them race in the mid-'80s in southern
New Mexico and Arizona, when they were typically the support class to
Street Stocks, and Late Models were the featured show. They were quite a
novelty at the time, but passed from that stage rather quickly.
In 1987 two Phoenix area Dwarf car builders, John Cain
and John Proctor, started the Dwarf Car Company, which was the first
national Dwarf car manufacturer. Cain also established the first
official sanctioning body for Dwarf cars, Dwarf Car U.S.A. The little
cars spread across the U.S. and even appeared on ESPN's Saturday Night
Thunder.
We're talking motorcycle power, the most popular
engines being
Suzuki,
Kawasaki, and
Honda
engines, with capabilities of up to the 200hp range. The engines range
in size from 1,000 to 1,250 cc and are both air- and water-cooled,
depending on the manufacturer. Also, both gasoline and alcohol are used
for fuel.
Dwarf cars are different in that they do not use a
typical chaindrive powertrain (although the first ones did), but instead
contain a normal automotive-style powertrain setup with a five/six-speed
motorcycle transmission, and a modified
Toyota
automotive rearend.
