Acme 1:18 Scale 1965 Ford Mustang A/FX - Warbucks - Phil Bonner Diecast Replica. Phil Bonner had a relatively short career in the world of top level drag racing but his impact is still felt today and fans of the blue oval brand still herald Bonner as one of the best that ever strapped himself into a full bodied car. His career began like many did down south in the 1950s by hitting strips in the car he drove around every day. Beating on that old Ford with its automatic transmission on strips paved with dirt and clay helped set the stage for a meteoric rise through the straight line ranks that began in the early 1960s and ended at the close of the decade with a chosen retirement. There was certainly a lot of stuff that happened in the middle, though.

Bonner was front and center through the rapid and often scary evolution of the funny car from the era of over powered and under chassied door slammers to the “advanced” tube chassis, flip top cars that were part of the program during the late 1960s. He ran Ford cars from the beginning right up until he chose to retire from the sport in 1969 when he saw the writing on the wall for Ford’s factory supported drag program and went back to the world of selling cars.