AMC Historical Persons / Cars / Events

Hurst's Dave Landrith Interview .Sc/Rambler ,69 Hurst Olds , Hemi Under Glass , SS AMX , Hurst Hairy Olds . Hurst Baja Boot

Interview by Bob Rascoe 05/21/2008

I'm putting the car makes in as we spoke about these subjects . Visitors , keep in mind , that this blog is mainly for the 69 Sc/Rambler . So please let anyone know , this is the site to go too ..for being in the Sc/Rambler Hammer Lane . You also may be interested in the conversation !

This link is on the Hairy olds ..
http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/1966_oldsmobile_cutlass_442/index.html
Another
http://www.oldsmobility.com/HPCars_Sept66.htm

Chevy Powered Baja Boot (note , the baja boot was funded by the military and GM. A hurst project ...)
http://www.ormhof.com/inductees/Vic-Hickey.htm
another Baja boot article
http://www.off-roadweb.com/events/0802or_40_years_to_glory_happy_birthday_baja_1000/index.html

Working on this ... hope to have more to follow .
Appreciate the time Dave spent for this car talk ( What an opportunity )

Dave was the President for Hurst Detroit , his duties were to manage P.R. for auto manufactures .All of them . GM , Ford , Chrysler and Amc ...supervise the builds of the cars . Was in charge of everything . PR crew , H L Shahan and many others worked for Dave ...Dave is "The Guy" to talk about these super cars ..

The main thing Hurst had the promotional cars for Was Advertising . To help sales ...for the car companies .He oversaw production of the Hurst/Manufacturers projects , Hemi under glass , SS AMX , Sc/Rambler , (69 Hurst Olds ?), 67 and 68 military project the Chevy powered Baja Boot ,Hairy olds . and many more .
Question marks are possibly not Daves projects ...I will get the facts and correct ASAP ..No question marked cars are positively daves works .As we spoke directly about those ...
Other was the Chrysler Baby grand , then AMC javelin Baby grand races ..

Dave Sold the AMC BAJA package to James Garner (Rockford Files and Movie Fame)
10 cars , Eight two wheel drive And the Two Four Wheel drive cars Dave was in charge of .

Exciting life ?? Or What !!!

NOTE NOTE Note
I will recheck with Dave as I do not want to leave any misquotes , as we were really covering a lot of ground in a short time (22 min.call) more to follow ...I just want to get this posted right away. Comment if you like ...

Dave left Hurst in 1971 and formed his own company (Landrith Industries) . He had bought
out Hurst's Detroit Plants Dyno's and car fabrication tooling . Took a lot of his accounts with him .He has owned Five Sc/Ramblers , but needed to fund his new business . So had to sell them at that time . Would like to own one again .

Dave was consultant for AMC's race programs , plus other tasks , Like spear heading the 77 AMX project etc . Worked with AMC as they bought Renualt and marketed "Le Car"
(Want to get more of the Five W's) ..
For Amc in 71 and 72 he Drag and oval track raced .
1975 he took on the AMC Hornet project , that was the 1977 AMX .

Daves Team worked with Jeep before AMC bought Jeep CO...

Dave was involved with the auto industry his whole life , accept the past 10 years .Where he is still working , for a company that has accounts for recreational vehicles .They research and engineer parts for motorcycles , and other craft ...Harley Davidson , Honda,Yamaha , Bombardier , etc ..
Make mirrors and other die casting parts .Stated that they talked Harley Davidson into aluminum castings instead of Zinc die cast .33% weight savings ...

Shirley Shahan was a driver for Daves team , H L Shahan drove some also .Other drivers were regulars , Rod Hall , and a Miller , will get back w/ first name ?
This was the Hurst years ....

NOTE NOTE Sc/Rambler Sc/Rambler

This is Minutia on Steroids . Sc/Rambler specific : From Sc/Rambler's Godfather !There were 30 "Promo": cars built on the "third Floor" AMC factory in Kenosha .Some of these were shown in Ohio , 15 were shipped to H L Shahan in California .These 15 were brought to Orange County Speedway ...Over 200 press agents showed !!The cars were drag raced and drivers given their time slips and prizes . A road course was set up allso.What a Gala affair that must of been . Food , drinks , lighting up the rear tires !I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning !
Dave plus H L Shahan were at this event ... among many others ...

SC/Rambler Sc/Rambler Sc/Rambler :
Hurst was responsible to put the hurst added Items on the Sc's . They added the pin stripes and decals . They did not paint the cars ...( third floor AMC building in Kenosha ...)
Will dig for more info on the other parts the hurst team installed , Hood scoops definitely .Tachs , head rests . Hurst Shifter ...

This is from Dave , The Tachometers were Sun ST-635 ...The Hood Scoops were TWO different sizes . They were made in Canada . In rene' Quebec .
Their was a claim , that we're shooting down , about three hood scoop sizes . Wrong..

Looking forward to keeping in contact , as this is a really great source ...Dave has many people he's met through the years , and has made many friends along the way.

Thanks for reading
This Blog will not self destruct ! You are experiencing the Sc/Rambler Hammer Lane !

Bob Rascoe

Baja Baja Baja
James Garner BAJA Article :
Maverick's Movin' MachineJames Garner's Racing SC/RamblerBy Pat FosterReprint courtesy of Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine, a publication from Hemmings Motor News.
It was 1969, and AMC was eager to get its cars involved in racing in all sorts of venues. They agreed to sponsor actor James Garner, who apparently thought there was a decent chance the Ramblers could run competitively. But even so, the affable actor probably couldn't have imagined how things would turn out. After all, even though American Motors had spent nearly two years focused on racing, it certainly wasn't making the most noise in the performance world. Sure, AMC cars were doing pretty well in Trans-Am racing, but running a Javelin pony car in the prestigious Trans-Am series was one thing; entering a Rambler in Mexico's grueling Baja 500 was quite another.
But that's exactly what the American actor, famous for playing Bret Maverick in the popular TV series Maverick and later as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, was determined to do. Aside from TV and film stardom, Garner also was known as a competitive racer. He had formed his own team, and off-road racing was one of his specialties. His team ran a squad of four-wheel-drive vehicles in the 1968 Mexican 1000 race, and had done well. How successful they would be running Ramblers as off-road racers was subject to speculation, though.
The whole "passenger car on an off-road racer" idea wasn't entirely without precedent for AMC. Back in December 1966, a band of intrepid souls drove a brand-new, box-stock Rambler Rebel hardtop through Baja just to see how it would do. Despite conditions that could have broken a Land Rover, they managed to make it hack to civilization, where they bragged about their adventure. That got others interested in Baja. By 1967, racers were flocking to Baja to try to beat established times for driving from Tijuana to La Paz. A 39-1/2 hour record was soon beaten by a 34.45-hour run. Then, in July 1967, a Rambler American driven by Spencer Murray and Ralph Poole did the run in 31 hours, flat!
So American Motors signed a three-year contract with Garner and his American International Racers (AIR) to field a team of Ramblers modified for off-road racing. Their first showing would be in the June 10, 1969, running of the Baja 500.
The cars chosen for the race would be specially modified versions of the limited-production 1969 SC/Rambler two-door hardtop. The Hurst-prepared Ramblers already were fast street cars, equipped with 390-cu.in., 315hp AMC V8s. AMC shipped ten new SC/Ramblers to Garner's shops, where the AIR team disassembled the engines to check for defects, then reassembled them to blueprint tolerances. Horsepower was increased to 410 at the flywheel, and the cars were capable of speeds as high as 140 mph along smooth straights at about 7,000 rpm in fourth gear.
Lift kits were used to raise the front suspensions, and the rear springs were re-arched for better ground clearance. Huge Goodyear 10x15-inch tires were fitted on plain steel wheels. For safety reasons, all window glass was removed and massive roll cages were installed. Enormous 44-gallon fuel cells were added, and the undercarriages were beefed up with heavy-duty skid plates. Eight of the Ramblers were entered into the passenger-car category. The other two Ramblers had been fitted with four-wheel drive and were entered in the Experimental class.
Wearing AMC's trademark tri-tone red, white and blue racing colors, the prepared SC/Ramblers reportedly tipped the scales at 3,140 pounds, same as stock -- apparently, the removal of most of the trim and the glass offset the increased weight of the roll cages and skid plates.
The Baja 500 race began on June 11th, 1969. Jim Garner wasn't able to be there to drive in the race, due to a film commitment in Spain. However, some of the top drivers in the business were on the AIR team including Bob Bondurant, Hunter Floyd and Davey Jordan.
The Ramblers tore off across the Baja desert churning up great clouds of dust in their wake. The rugged Baja course ran through hills, stones, sand, shale and worse. Leaping from rock to rock and pothole to pothole, the ten cars raced along the 558-mile route, a punishing run that was sheer torture for both man and machine.
A 30-hour race meant driving part of the way at night, with only head lamps and big roof mounted rally lights to show the way. The entire course wasn't off-road; in fact, nearly 100 miles was on pavement, though anyone who has driven in Mexico knows that even the paved roads can be treacherous. When paved sections were under the wheels, the cars were driven flat out.
The race ended back in Ensenada the following day, June 12th. It had been a tough competition. Of the 134 assorted vehicles (cars, motorcycles, sand buggies, etc.) that set out on June 11, only 73 made it across the finish line within the required 30 hours. Among the finishers were seven of Garner's 10 Ramblers.
What they accomplished was nothing short of amazing. The car driven by Bob Bondurant and Tony Murphy took first place. In fact, the tough little Ramblers took three of the top five places in the sedan class, including 1st, 3rd and 5th. AIR drivers Ed Orr and J.W. Wright were the third-place finishers, while teammates Don Simpson and Walker Evans drove the Rambler that came in fifth. In the Experimental class, the four-wheel-drive Rambler driven by Carl Jackson and Jim Fricker managed to come in fourth. It was a stunning success for everyone involved. AMC showed the world what its cars were capable of.


These are the pioneers of Speed . AMC Style .

I especialy enjoy the story's about Women in sports . Kudo's to opening up the doors
for the women of today ! These gals had what it takes !

Topic : Shirley Shahan DRAG ON LADY From Hemi To AMC !
http://www.javelinamx.com/javhome/articles/shahan1.txt

Topic : Linda Vaughn (Hurst Liason ) She did race also !
http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Linda_Vaughn.htm

More of Women in Drag racing .

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980177328148

Lots Of historic Drag Race stuff . ( Not all AMC)
http://www.nhra.com/insidedragster.asp

PROAMC GORDY said...
IN 1950 BILL FRANCE ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF NASCAR AND CURTIS TURNER AN EARLY NASCAR SUPER STAR DROVE A NEW NASH AMBASSADOR IN A ROAD RACE SOUTH OF THE BORDER CALLED THE CARRERA PANAMERICANA. LATER THE SAME CAR SERVED AS NASCAR PACE CAR AS WELL AS BEING RACED IN NASCAR RACES. TURNER ON APRIL 1 1951 WON THE 150 MILE NASCAR RACE AT CHARLOTTE NC FAIRGROUNDS FOR NASH'S ONLY STRICKLY STOCK NASCAR WIN. THE NASH MOTOR COMPANY WAS THE FIRST AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURER TO PROVIDE ACTIVE SPONSORSHIP AND CONTINGENCY AWARDS IN NASCAR RACING

Bill France:
http://www.fireballroberts.com/Beginning.htm
Curtis Turner Info:
http://www.fireballroberts.com/curtis_turner1.htm