Member Inducted 2006
Roz Prior
History
Roz Prior's first drive was the injected Rat powered slingshot
"Age Machine" which husband Dave had bought from Bruce Brown in
1973 with the intention of driving it himself but at the August
Blackbushe meeting he found the cockpit too small for him to
comfortably drive and the following weekend at Santa Pod Roz was in
place behind the butterfly. She put down an impressive
10.8 at 132m.p.h. first time out and by the end of the day had
recorded a 10.21 and was an instant crowd favorite. By the October
meeting at the Pod she was running mid 9's at 155m.p.h. and had the
other drivers quivering in their fire proof boots when she took Top
Dragster Eliminator shutting down the likes of Tony Anderson and
Ray Hoare. 1974 saw Roz back out in "Age Machine" and some exciting
duels with "Hemi Hunter" another injected Rat slingshot run by
Gerry Andrews. At the Big Go they met in the final where Roz shaved
the green to perfection and won with a slower 8.48/157m.p.h. to
Gerry's 8.29/177m.p.h. Roz wanted to go faster and later in '74 she
moved up to Top Fuel with the purchase of Dennis Priddles "Mr Six"
392 Hemi powered slingshot fueller. It was re-named "Fast Lady" and
by the end of the year Roz had run a 7.23 and a new strip speed
record at Snetterton with a 208m.p.h. blast. Roz got some backing
from Revell Model Kits in 1975 and she was now known as Miss
Revell. At Snetterton in May Roz ran her first six with a
6.98/213m.p.h. run. 1977 saw the ageing slingshot replaced by a new
rear-engined Top Fuel Dragster called "Maneater" and powered by a
426 Hemi. At the '77 Big Go Roz was #1 qualifier and went on to
take the Eliminator win. A Milodon Hemi motor was fitted in 1978
and Roz recorded a best of 6.42 seconds which stood as the ET
record for a British female driver for 20 years.