This is a Mickey Thompson Mini Dragster from 1969, as the name suggests, it’s essentially a miniature dragster powered by a Tecumseh four-stroke single-cylinder engine.
This engine is said to be good for an eye-watering 3 bhp, and it sends power to the rear wheels via a centrifugal clutch and drive chain, meaning that there are no gearshifts to worry about. This makes the mini dragster good fun for the whole family, as it can be operated easily by those who don’t know how to work a manual transmission.
Here we see actor James Garner (above), and actor Paul Newman (below) both driving Mickey Thompson Mini Dragsters. Both men were accomplished racing drivers in their own right, and they no doubt enjoyed the novelty of the unusual miniature racer.
Mickey Thompson (born Marion Lee Thompson) was an American race car driver, automotive designer, and racing innovator known for his extensive contributions to motorsports.
He was a pioneering figure in three major fields: drag racing, land speed record racing, and off-road racing. Thompson gained fame in the 1960s for setting numerous land speed records, including becoming the first American to break the 400 mph barrier in a wheel-driven vehicle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
He later founded Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels, a company that specialized in high-performance tires for off-road racing, drag racing, and street cars. This company is still in business and thriving today. If you own a 4×4, there’s a decent chance it either has Mickey Thompson tires on it now, or has had them fitted at some point in the past.
In the off-road world, Thompson was instrumental in co-creating the SCORE International off-road racing series and the development of stadium off-road racing events, which brought off-road competition to large urban venues and stadium-like crowds for the first time.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mickey Thompson sold approximately 180 examples of the Mini Dragster. This was a smaller-sized drag racer designed for the whole family to use. It has a steel frame with a fiberglass body, wide track front wheels for stability, and a driver’s seat’s just behind the engine.
Due to the weight distribution, it’s said to be relatively easy to pop-wheelies under heavy acceleration in the Mini Dragster, making it a crowd favorite at events and meet-ups. It’s now known how many of the original examples are left in the world, but we only rarely see them come up for sale.
Due to the weight distribution of the Mickey Thompson Mini Dragster, and its rear wheelie wheels, it’s possible get pop wheelies with it under heard acceleration. Well, as hard as the 3 bhp single will give you.
A number of celebrities are known to have owned or driven these over the years, including Paul Newman, James Garner, and of course, Mickey Thompson himself. The vehicle you see here is an original 1969 Mickey Thompson Mini Dragster finished in blue, with a black seat, rear wheelie wheels, a roll hoop, and a steering yoke.
It’s being offered for sale out of Rockville Centre, New York on Bring a Trailer, and you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
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