The Panorama City Special is a pioneering streamliner dragster.Taylor, Thom. "Mickey Thompson Panorama City Special", in "Beauty Beyond the Twilight Zone", p. 32.
Believed to be the first "slingshot" dragster,Taylor, p. 31. the Panorama City Special (designed by hot rodder Mickey Thompson) had a full body, including skirted rear wheels, and a cockpit windshield wrapping around and over the driver.Taylor, p. 31 & photo. The steel front wheels were covered by lakester-style wheel discs (Moon discs). The car debuted in 1955, at the first NHRA U.S. Nationals at Great Bend, Kansas. The wheelbase was only .
In its initial outing, it proved much slower than the competition, hitting only , when others were reaching almost . Later in 1955, however, it became the first single-engined fueller to exceed , recording a speed of .
Notes
Sources Taylor, Thom. "Beauty Beyond the Twilight Zone" in Hot Rod, April 2017, pp. 30–43.