1/43 "Hemi Under Glass" 1965 Plymouth Cuda wheelstander (model & video)

43rdMuscle · October 19, 2013

In 1965, while looking to build a competitive drag racer to highlight the offerings of his company, Hurst Performance, George Hurst experimented with a midship placement of a 426-cu.in. Hemi V-8 – behind the driver but ahead of the rear wheels – in a Plymouth Barracuda. Hurst and his team soon realized that keeping the car’s front wheels on the ground was an exercise in futility, but his natural showmanship kicked in and he soon realized that crowds would love to see the car run the quarter mile on two wheels, its nose pointed to the sky. Rather than compete in a conventional series, Hurst built the car – dubbed the Hurst Hemi Under Glass – for exhibition drag racing, helping to create the wheelstanding phenomenon of the 1960s.

Original driver “Wild Bill” Shrewsbury piloted the Hemi Under Glass (with its “Bear of a ‘Cuda” script and prominent Hurst logo on its belly) through 1965 and into 1966, before leaving to drive the L.A. Dart wheelstander. By then, the Hurst car had been reconfigured to wear 1966 sheetmetal and driver Bob Riggle – who accompanied Shrewsbury as driver and mechanic in 1965 – was next to climb into the pilot’s seat.

The model

Only 54 Made by SMTS for GADM (Quarter Mile series) in white metal.