OLD SCHOOL HURST GIRLS GONE WILD | GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the lovely, leggy, legend of the auto racing scene from the 60′s through the early 80′s was better known as– Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. She was a trophy queen whose voluptuous looks and charm often stole the show at auto racing events she attended– SCCA, NASCAR, Indy & Formula One, among others.  Linda has been knocked by many for setting Women’s Lib back with her busty displays, but her passion for the sport ran deep and she had a major impact– not just in promoting the sponsors, but also in advancing women’s racing.  Vaughn earned her SCCA competition license at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and then got behind the wheel and raced.

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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The Legendary Hurst Girls–  Marsha on left, Linda Vaughn in center & Nikki on right

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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The legendary Linda Vaughn takes a ride prior to the start of a race at Road Atlanta in 1971.  via

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Billy Scott & the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter” Linda Vaughn

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Hurst Girls

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter” driving the Hurst golf cart

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The legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter” Linda Vaughn, 1971

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The legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter” Linda Vaughn, 1971

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Hurst Girl, Nikki (nice Olds)

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The Legendary Hurst Girls, Marsha on left, Linda Vaughn in center & Nikki on right

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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The Hurst Girls

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Linda Vaughn, the legendary “Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”

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Jalopy Journal has an excellent Linda Vaughn thread that produced most of these incredible images

from the selvedge yard.

Fictionnal Turbine LMP1 Ferrari

Ferrari T01

  by Oriol Folch Garcia

STEVE MCQUEEN’S DUNE BUGGY DAYS

Steve McQueen-- rockin' the Aran sweater & enjoying a smoky treat, behind the wheel of his dune buggy from "The Thomas Crown Affair."

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Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway with the dune buggy from "The Thomas Crown Affair."

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Steve McQueen's highly-customized, Corvair-powered, Meyers Manx dune buggy from "The Thomas Crown Affair."

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Steve McQueen on the “Thomas Crown” Dune Buggy–

“Crown lives at the beach, and he has a sand Dune Buggy.  I helped them design it, so I’m kind of proud of that.  What it is, it’s set on a Volkswagen chassis, with great old wide weenies – big wide tires on it with mag wheels. Corvair engine stuffed in the back, and a semi reclining position, somewhat like my formula 1 car.  It’s very light, you know, I think we are around about 230 horses, and the vehicle weighs about 1000 pounds.”

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All the Dune Buggy stunt scenes from The Thomas Crown Affair were performed by Steve McQueen himself– with actress Faye Dunaway bravely sitting by McQueen’s side like a true sport.  Man, how I love the howl of that souped-up Corvair engine in the clip below–

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Next up, A Steve McQueen dune buggy on some serious steroids– the Legendary Hurst Baja Boot.

The Hurst Baja Boot was envisioned by Vic Hickey who was regarded as one of General Motors top engineers of the time. GM had a “no racing” policy in place that initially stopped any plans of producing the Baja. But under the shadow of darkness, Hickey and Drino Miller completed the Baja Boot in 26 days at the Hurst facility in Michigan. The chassis was constructed out of SAE- 1010 13/4-inch steel tubing that weighed 3,450 pounds. The suspension system included parts from a Corvette rear drive assemblies and a Dana transfer case to support the 112 inch long hybrid four-wheel-drive buggy. The Baja Boot could operate from a Front wheel drive platform through an inverted drive assembly that allowed the driver to disengage the transfer case. Other Innovative features included a collapsible steering column, 11-inch Hurst-Airheart disc brakes, a 20-inch-diameter six-blade fan with reversed pitch, and a 350ci V-8 engine that was installed backwards.

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Steve McQueen, Bud Ekins and the legendary Chevy-powered Hurst Baja Boot, only 2 were ever made.

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Steve first raced the Baja Boot in the ‘Stardust 7-11′ off-road race in June 1968. A gruelling 320 mile odyssey for both cars and motorbikes, the race started at the Stardust raceway in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran across the potentially lethal Amargosa desert. Friend and fellow racer Bud Ekins was also with Steve in the Baja Boot in the role of rider-navigator.

In the lead up to the race Steve told the media - “I’ve lined me up a sweet machine for this one called the ‘Baja Boot.’ Chevy powered. Four hundred and fifty horses under the bonnet. Space frame construction. Four-wheel drive. Independant suspension. And ‘smooth’! I can notch close to a hundred over a sand wash and you better believe that’s moving.”

Steve and Bud were performing well in the race, until, in Steve’s own words, as related to writer William F Nolan– “We were really battin’ along, feeling good about the car and our chances with it, when we see this big fat wheel rolling along beside us. It’s our wheel!  The axle had popped.  Well, that did it. We just sat on our tails in the desert ’till help came.”

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Steve McQueen and the Hurst Baja Boot 1968

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McQueen also took the Baja Boot for a spin in 1969′s ‘Baja 1000′, which as the name suggests, is a 1000 mile long off-road race.  Set on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, also known as ‘The Devils Playground’, the Baja 1000 is the longest off road race in the world.  It is also arguably the toughest and most dangerous– 1969′s event claiming two lives.

Steve McQueen was accompanied by co-driver Harold Daigh this time out, and the pair were travelling well, but, with just 237 miles completed, disaster struck when a broken transmission put them out of the race.

McQueen later told William Nolan– “In the fast sections, it was not unusual for us to get airborn for 50 to 70 feet over road dips.  The Boot rides so smooth you can overdo things.  Even in bad, choppy sections it’ll do 60 or so, and if you slam into a big rock at that speed you can crack an axle or worse.”

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Steve McQuen and Bud Ekins in the legendary 450 HP Chevy beast-- the Baja Boot.

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Thee Hurst Baja Boot driven by Steve McQueen.

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Restored McQueen Baja Boot with correct Hurst decals and red paint.

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Interior of the off-road Hurst Baja Boot

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The Legendary Hurst Baja Boot off-road monster

from theselvedgeyard

Hot Chili Paper

fromFREE BIKER MAGAZINE

SEX & SPEED | “JUNGLE PAM” HARDY & “JUNGLE JIM” LIBERMAN LIGHT ‘EM UP

1973 — “Jungle Pam” Hardy and “Jungle Jim” Liberman with his Chevy Vega Funny Car.

You’d be hard-pressed to say who was hotter back in the ’70s– “Jungle Pam” in her go-go boots, short-shorts, and titillating tops… or “Jungle Jim” Liberman’s rubber-melting burnouts, wheelstands, and screaming up and down the length of the dragstrip backwards.  Liberman was arguably one of the most flamboyant and memorable showmen on the funny car circuit, who knew better than anyone what the crowd wanted– and hiring the 18 yr old tall, dark and sexy “Jungle Pam” Hardy as his sassy staging sidekick was a calculated stroke of marketing genius.  But she was no lightweight– she quickly learned to turn a wrench, know here way around cars, the crowds, and the scene– the fans loved her.

“Jungle Pam” is still a legend to this day, and a true original.  Sadly, Jim Liberman left us back in ’77 when his Corvette hit a bus head-on in a tragic road accident.  His spirit lives through all the drivers he’s inspired, and the countless memories of his “Jungle Jim” antics and achievements during Liberman’s legendary racing career.

Drag racing legends “Jungle Pam” Hardy and “Jungle Jim” Liberman doing what they do best.

“Jungle Pam” gets down.

 

“Jungle Pam” Hardy

“Jungle Jim” Liberman’s epic 1970s wheel-standing funny car.  Image via

“Jungle Pam” Hardy and “Jungle Jim” Liberman with his Chevy Funny Car.

“Jungle Jim” Liberman’s epic 1970s wheel-standing funny car.  Image via

“Jungle Pam” Hardy — Photo courtesy Greg Sharp and the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsport Museum

 

“Jungle Pam” Hardy

Epic shot of “Jungle Pam” Hardy look-a-like (as it turns out) working the crowd, and no doubt distracting the competition. –image Jim Kelly

 

“Jungle Pam” Hardy

A young and fresh-faced “Jungle Pam” Hardy on her way to becoming a racetrack legend.

 

“Jungle Pam” Hardy– Image © Charles Gilchrist, right with racing legend “Jungle Jim” Liberman.

“Jungle Pam” Hardy and “Jungle Jim” Liberman at work on the drag strip.

“Jungle Pam” Hardy and “Jungle Jim” Liberman at work on the drag strip–  Image © Charles Gilchrist

More Jungle Pam goodness here at H.A.M.B. and at JunglePam.com

from http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com