Gil George, owner/founder/designer/builder and his partner John Thawley created the Funco Wampuskitty. The Funco Wampuskitty was the only buggy on the market that had been designed soley for racing per Road Test Dune Buggy magazine in the July 1969 issue. The chassis utilized round and square tubing, welded into a fully triangulated structure that provided maximum strength with minimum weight. Two chassis were available: mild steel or 4130 chromoly.
The Wampuskitty front suspension enabled it to be faster than buggies equipped with a conventional VW front suspension system. The front suspension was a pair of wide-based, single A-arms. Pivoted on a slight angle, they had the characteristics of a trailing arm suspension in that the wheel moves up and to the rear slightly. The A-arms could accept either VW or Porsche king pins and spindles. Coil-shocks mounted at 45 degrees allowed 11 inches of wheel travel compared to 5 inches on a stock VW suspension. The A-arms were originally fabricated from steel channel but were later cast in tenzalloy. The cast units were about three times stronger at the same weight. The rear suspension was stock VW welded into the chassis.
The original, modified rack and pinion steering units were out of Austin-Healey Sprites. Ultimately Funco went with their own rack and pinion steering units because the Sprite units were becoming rare.
Light weight was another advantage of the Wampuskitty. The Wampukitty chassis with front and rear suspension weight less than a traditional VW Beetle front suspension. A complete race ready buggy weighed between 950 – 1025 pounds.
Most VW engine configurations were producing between 85 to 100 horsepower. On paved stretches of the Mexican 1000, several Wampuskitties were traveling up to 110 miles per hour.
At the time of the article, Funco had built and sold approximately 50 chassis.
Info source: Road Test Dune Buggy / July 1969 issue.
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