The Hemi Under Glass Collection

In 1964 George Hurst was looking for a car for the 1965 drag racing season that would serve as a test bed and promote the Hurst brand and his aftermarket shifters and wheels. Hot Rod Magazine Tech Editor Ray Brock liked the new-for-1965 A/FX class, and explained to Hurst how putting a Hemi in the back of a Barracuda would give excellent weight transfer and be very quick off the line. Brock even had a name for the creation: the Hurst Hemi Under Glass. He sketched the idea onto a napkin over dinner, which Hurst took back to his shop with the question, “Can we build this?” The answer was typical of any self-respecting bunch of hot rodders: “Sure, we can build whatever you want.”

The finished car, however, was not what Hurst wanted - at least not at first. The Hemi’s mid-engine location and vast power reserves made it all but impossible to launch the car hard without instantly lifting the nose skyward in quite dramatic fashion. What looked like a major problem, however, turned out to be a huge hit with the fans, and so was born the most popular series of crowd-pleasing wheelstanders in drag racing history.

The original 1965 Hurst Hemi Under Glass set the pattern for a succession of cars that appeared at major events across North America until 1975 and then again from 1992 until 2009. Bob Riggle was there every step of the way, first as a Hurst mechanic and fabricator and then as one of only two men ever to pilot the Hurst Hemi Under Glass.

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