The SS/AMX cars I wrote about last week were converted for AMC by Hurst so I thought I’d have a look at what else this aftermarket company had been up to. It was founded (as were many now well known performance brands) in the late ‘50’s when hot rodding and drag racing were really exploding in the US. There was a large market for performance gear shift levers and associated components particular in the developing muscle car ranks and George Hurst was the man to help satisfy it.

(Photo from this flickr gallery)

By the mid sixties Hurst was a household name – at least in the households of American car enthusiasts – and this must have been helped no end by the demonstration cars they built and displayed at top drag race meetings. The wildest of these to my mind is the Hurst Hairy Olds of 1966/7 which was a twin-engined, four wheel drive machine.

It utilised a pair of blown Oldsmobile Toronado engines and gearboxes to prove their strength and capabilities since the front wheel drive road cars were something quite unusual in their home market. Read more about it and see some fantastic period photos at Hursthairyolds.com and Oldsmobility.com.

Another Hurst "discovery" was that of Linda Vaughn, quickly dubbed the First Lady of Drag Racing, who could regularly be seen hanging on to her large golden shifter as seen here in this great period footage which we sadly can't embed, so you'll have to visit the link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh3qg14K2-M

It wasn’t just Olds though as there were several other manufacturers that used the Hurst parts and name to create special editions. The Hurst Jeepster Commando was one such collaboration for Kaiser/AMC though reading the spec list on HurstJeepster.com it looks to have consisted of little more than badges and some bolt on accessories.

But they must have done something right because while it has gone through a couple of different ownerships the Hurst brand is still very much alive and well.

Hurst Shifters