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Early hurst history - trivia

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by dennis kirban, Dec 13, 2009.

  1. Muttley
    Joined: Nov 30, 2003
    Posts: 18,500

    Muttley
    Member

    Idiots. [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  2. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    Your rite....also one you seldom see today, I actually don;t think I have one of the 3-speed stickers...

    [email protected]
     
  3. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    A lot of of stuff got thrown out back then. You had many disgrunted employees since not many wanted to move from the Warminster, PA area to where Mr Gasket is located in northern Ohio.

    Also during that time frame late 1980s the shifter business to OEM companies was way down. Prior to this Hurst had changed hands several times. I was going down there almost daily and buying stuff from the employees....I gotta admit I was short sighted also buying mostly GM related items letting the Ford and Mopar stuff including pistol grip handles get trashed...

    Not sure if its true or not but the huge stick and knob got trashed that Linda would hold on to on the trunk lids....

    I did buy the full size felt T handle it perfect sits maybe 2-3 feet tall....I member paying I think $100 for it....

    The seats in the lobby I think got trashed...this would make a GTO owner cry as they were the rare buckets with the headrests...headrest in 1966-67 was quite rare an option.

    Again I am going by memory you get spoiled when something like that is in your neighborhood....and wake up one morning and its all gone.

    [email protected]
     
  4. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Again thanz to Mr AMC GUY


    Lets see who can guess exactly the background as to what this picture reveals that is Hurst related.


    In other words I am testing your knowledge to see what you think this represents. I wil say this, it is one of a kind.


    Lets hear your guess.


    [email protected]

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    bowie likes this.
  5. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Thanz to Mr AMC Guy for posting for me.


    Earlier this week I took 8 original Hurst cans and 6 lids to Bill lCampbells house ti have him sign them. Here you see Bill signing one of the real nice original cans for me.


    One thing is certain as rare as the cans are less than 10 will also have Bill Campbells signature on it!


    Not often in the collectible car world that the actual container is so valuable as these cans have become in recent years.


    I member years ago paying $50 to $100 each for cans and my friends that I was nuts paying that for a 25-30 year old dented can.....today the price has really escaluated...I used to think $1500 for a set of Hurst wheels was all the money in the world also.


    [email protected]


    I will have 6 cans to sell at some point.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. jipp
    Joined: Jun 20, 2011
    Posts: 1,112

    jipp
    Member

    id use it for a trash can.. cool picture. :)
    only thing iv collected ( one of my ML guitars ) that is signed was from dimbag darrel from the band pantera.. was a good night i spent with dime. R.I.P dime.
    chris.
     
  7. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,754

    Deuces

    Hurst Hairy olds doing what it did best... Smokin'em! :cool:
     

    Attached Files:

  8. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Once again thanz to Mr AMC Guy


    Looking at more things in Bill Campbells office these are diecast Prevost buses. Not sure when they were made but as I stated before Bill and a few buddies bought the Prevost bus company and took it from making about 30 buses a year in 1969 to making about 1,000 a year in the early 1990s before selling the company to Volvo.


    Its not often you get a chance in life to actually own two far different companies and in each case be the best in that particular field. Hurst with the shifters, and Prevost buses being the top of the line buses.


    [email protected]

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  9. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Again thanz to MR AMC Guy


    Here you are viewing a brand new never used original Hurst aluminum trim ring. I have no idea of the numbers of this style Hurst made comparing it to the more popular chrome plated metal versions. In the chrome metal versions at least to my knowledge 2 styles exist with the difference being how they were secure to the Hurst wheel.


    I actually talked awhile ago to the person who headed up this project for Hurst. He says the aluminum trim ring had several flaws mainly it would easily dent from road debris and was tough to maintain its appearance. It would also dent easily if not installed properly.


    From a visual stand point it just did not have the impact as the chrome one did. This one is part of my private collection.


    [email protected]

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  10. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Here is a copy of a rare photo take in 1956 at the third annual Lincoln Club National Meet.


    George is on the right....accepting the award for "Best Engine Conversion ( I believe he put a 1955 Caddy engine in this 1941 Lincoln....


    Date was September 1956 location was Boyne Falls, Michigan (a town I never heard of ).


    Trophy stands about 17 inches tall (reason I know this...I own the trophy.....its still in pretty nice shape...I have a copy of the photo you are viewing to prove the connection.


    Here is an interesting question that I am sure some of you may know...This trophy was for the 3rd annual Lincoln Owners club dated 1956 which means this club was probably formed in 1953.....


    What national marque was the very earliest? I am guessing Studebaker probably goes back to somewhere close. Maybe Caddy?


    Someone had to be first.....what US PRODUCED Car marque was the first national club.


    [email protected]


    I am told Georges Lincoln still exists

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  11. glenn33
    Joined: Sep 11, 2006
    Posts: 1,838

    glenn33
    Member
    from Browns, IL

    My guess would be Duryea.


     
  12. xxzzy999
    Joined: Apr 8, 2011
    Posts: 143

    xxzzy999
    Member

  13. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    Back tracking slightly to post 336..what you see there is in Bills private collection its when him and Doc Watson played around with a 2 part epoxy to make what later would become the first T handles in plastic and of course metal.

    At one point they considered making a 2 part epoxy kit so buyers could form their own T handle based on the shape of their hand. Fortunately that did not happen.

    Plastic T handles were subject to cracking. In the late 1960s GM notably Pontiac used the T handle as an option and it can be found on various GTO Judge models 1969-1970 vintage. Over at Ford the T handle also got used not exactly sure what Mustang models but again this would have been around 1969-1970. (I was not into Fords, GTOs I know quite a bit about them).

    [email protected]
     
  14. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Again thanz to Mr AMC Guy:


    Here you see the actual trophy from 1956 that George Hurst won from the Lincoln Club. The laminated photo on top of the trophy shows George accepting the trophy.


    The trophy has survived all these years. I mentioned to Bill Campbell last week that I had this trophy and he said back then at the time several Lincoln owners were upset that George put a Caddy engine in a Lincoln.


    Bill went on to say that the Lincolns at least this model was vastly underpowered for the weight of the car. Be neat if the owner of the Lincoln now saw this posting.....I am sure this is the one unique related part that has eluded the owner all these years.


    Another rare item from my personal collection.....


    [email protected]

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  15. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    thanz to Mr AMC Guy once again


    Here you see brand new still in the original Hurst box a very unusual shifter by unusual doubt this was a big seller for Hurst since it is for a 1970 Toyota......Toyota in 1970 was hardly a major force in the US. In my area I started towing for a dealership that was just starting out with a Toyota franchise around 1972. I was charging $8 local. Today this dealership is huge......if you reside in my area the dealership I am referring to is Thompson who now owns a Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Audi, VW and Porsche franchises.


    The shifter is somewhat like the design Hurst made for the early VW bugs etc.


    [email protected]

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  16. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    Few more tidbits to share.....I was out at Bills house today for about 2 ours having him sign a bunch of items for me for our big reunion event. I still had no luck convincing him to come next Saturday.

    He did share some more stories with me. According to Bill he thinks fewer than 1,000 sets of Hurst wheels were ever sold. The spinner cap was short lived because Pennsylvania deemed it dangerous! It was replaced with the optional bullet cap.

    Early on all the company cars were Pontiacs....

    We all know the Hurst wheel is quite strong Bill says one day he busted his front suspension but the wheel never cracked. Up through his tenure they never ever did a private label for any company even though Sears tried to get them to do a private label for them for the shifters.

    This would be up through 1969. After that Bill was not with the company.

    I always though the plastic T handle came first then the aluminum T handle...not the case the aluminum was first the reason the plastic was produced was because in the winter the aluminum one got cold whereas plastic ones did not! True story

    I know that for a fact since we also get bullet shifter knobs made and for plastic ones we use actual billard ball knobs for the C5 and C6 Corvettes...

    I hope to see Bill again in a few weeks....always an education....

    He says the Hurst wheel cuff links never really sold either so originals are seldom seen for sale today.

    Bill even explained how the original jam nut came about using a thin nut so as not to hurt your fingers....

    [email protected]
     
  17. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    here is a little side note of current interest. They been showing Obamas new 1.1 million dollar black bus made by Prevost in Canada....they are the "Cadillac of buses & Rvs etc"......same company Bill Campbell and a few of his close friends bought after leaving Hurst in 1969....sold the company to Volvo in the early 1990s...these buses are the most distinctive ones on the road.

    I am sure to detail the exterior is more than the standard $150......

    [email protected]

    When Bill got the Prevost company they were building about 50 buses a year when they sold it production was about 1,000 buses a year.
     
  18. matt69scrambler
    Joined: Aug 15, 2011
    Posts: 5

    matt69scrambler
    Member

    Last edited: Aug 16, 2011
  19. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Again thanz to Mr AMC Guy for posting for me.


    My wife was going thru some of her files on the computer and I had forgotten I had this unusual photo.


    I took this photo maybe 2-3 years ago. Just prior to that I had stopped at the old Hurst building in Warminster and met with one of the current owners and given him a unique gift....an actual copy of the original blue print for the building.


    They had completely redone the building and I noticed in the main foyer it had an old wall to wall carpet. At the time I told the CEO, that I remember that in the tile floor if it was still under it had the H logo and to call me if they were ever going to change it out.


    Soon after he did call me and told me to come down again. Unfortunately it was one continous tile floor and I did not see any way to easily save it so I simply took a picture of it before they replaced the floor. It had been covered for probably 10-12 years.


    The other sad part as far as GTO owners would be is back in the day in that same foyer they actually had black GTO bucket seats to sit on. Rarer still they were the optional ones with the headrest either 1966 or 1967 I can't member which. I do not know where they went.


    Be nice if someday the township of Warminster erected a sign by the street acknowledging that Hurst once occupied that building. All over this area they make references to George Washington and Fultons Steam Boat and the civil war be nice if they do something that reflects on this part of history. If donations was required I am sure monies could be raised to do such a sign heck be neat if it was gold and black with the logo as the main feature.


    Just a thought.....I probably drive past it 3 times a week..........


    [email protected]

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  20. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

  21. matt69scrambler
    Joined: Aug 15, 2011
    Posts: 5

    matt69scrambler
    Member

    Thanks AMC guy. I know of your car and name well,great ride !!!! I sold my Hurst SC/Rambler a couple years ago. I now own a super rare 1967 Ambassador factory four on the floor station wagon, 343V8 !!!! I'm restoring it (my way) now and can't wait to get it back on the road. Posted a couple photos under "interduce yourself". The car is called DA FREAK.

    I love this HURST stuff !!!!!! Always did.
    Matt Wilson
     
  22. jipp
    Joined: Jun 20, 2011
    Posts: 1,112

    jipp
    Member

    the Toyota shifter indeed looks like the shifters i used for every single one of my baja bugs expect one.. i used a old empi i did not change the empi out because it worked.. if you ever owned a bug, you will know how much of a improvement these make..

    chris.
     
  23. theamcguy
    Joined: May 7, 2009
    Posts: 254

    theamcguy
    Member

    Just checked it out, nice car.
     
  24. ol55
    Joined: Oct 1, 2008
    Posts: 499

    ol55
    Member
    from Virginia

    Dennis and theamcguy,
    Thanks for posting this info!
    I have a Boot and Plate package similar to the one you posted. The vehicle looks more like the Camaro in your picture with an AMC Hornet Grille:confused: It has a Woolco sticker for $8.97.
    [​IMG]

    You talked about selling your Christmas Tree displays. One of the highlights of my high school years was going to the Washington DC Auto Show. As I recall, Hurst/AMC had a interactive display with a film of an AMC MACHINE (pretty sure not a SC/RAMBLER) going down the quarter mile. The Christmas Tree would go to green and the participant (me) would try to shift the HURST at the same time as the driver. If you "missed"" a shift a light would tell you. I tried several times, did not get the timing(3 to 4) but I was hooked on AMC Muscle and Hurst shifters!

    Have you ever heard of this display?

    Thanks again and enjoy the reunion,
    Larry
     
  25. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    A few updates to answer above postings....

    I have heard of that display but never seen one personally. The problem with many of the one shot show displays is they got dismantled and thrown away.. I got a felt style Hurst T handle that is about 2 or 3 feet long that may have been part of a display or maybe was used on a huge shifter handle years ago....

    The Toyota Hurst shifter I have new in the Hurst box is for sale at our reunion event....I actually have the prototype hand painted VW Bug Hurst shifter display in my office..I am sure more of the VW version sold than the Toyota version!

    I am curious the Matt 69 Scrambler person are you the person that came out to my house maybe 1-2 years ago to interview me for a Hurst article or book?

    I talked to Linda earlier tonite she is feeling better and has booked her flight....

    Its very unusual for her to attend an event like this at a private house .....almost a home coming since the Hurst plant is about 20 mins down the road from where we reside.

    [email protected]
     
  26. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member


    I think one reason Hurst made these huge shifter plates with the boot was for non mechanical people llike myself. I remember as a lad of 16 working at a Sinclair Gas Station alone on the nite shift and putting Hurst 3-speed floor shifter in my 1954 Ford coupe. I butchered the floor pan quite a bit trying to calculate where the shifter would come through the floor and bolt to the transmission....I probably could have used even a bigger boot assembly!

    Course back then inbetween trying to do this I had to run out and pump gas and clean windshields....... I guess I was over paid even back then at $1 per hour!

    [email protected]

    The SInclair gas station was located on the point at the south end of Jenkintown, PA where Glanzman Subaru is today just north of where Bryner Chevy was for any of you that are from that area and remember that time frame 1963-65.....I am 99% certain it was a SInclair gas station..
     
  27. Igosplut
    Joined: Jan 1, 2011
    Posts: 158

    Igosplut

    Dennis, I have to thank you for continually posting pictures and history to this thread. Just a great treat to see and hear the story's behind a company that touched everybody's life that was into cars. Makes me feel like an insider with Hurst.....
     
  28. dennis kirban
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 230

    dennis kirban
    Member

    Appreciate the nice comments.......

    Linda arrives tomorrow nite Friday Aug 19th from California probably one of the few times she has done a private event at a house....hoping for good weather....

    Then Sunday she is in Coopersburg, PA for an event.....

    [email protected]
     
  29. matt69scrambler
    Joined: Aug 15, 2011
    Posts: 5

    matt69scrambler
    Member

    Hi Dennis,
    Nice Hurst collection !!!! The Hurst items I linked to belong to a Hurst collector Tracy Byrd.
    I never met you or Tracy. I'm just a guy that owned a Hurst SC/Rambler with cross-ram intake on it, the B-scheme in the image I posted was my car. I had helped to build the Hurst SC/Rambler registry at www.amazingmusclecars.com .
    [​IMG]
    It would have been great to meet you and see your collection back when I lived in Pa and had the SC. I had lived in Uniontown Pa. Maybe you knew of my car? Give Linda a SC/Rambler hug for me...LOL
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2011
  30. mr mopar man
    Joined: Aug 18, 2011
    Posts: 1

    mr mopar man
    Member
    from Colona, Il

    Dennis,
    Would you know where to find another of those aluminum trim rings? I have a set of wheels and one of them has been destroyed but the other three are like new. The wheels were my dad's so they have some sentimental value and I'd like to use them in the future but I've not had much luck in finding a replacement ring. Most people don't seem know about the aluminum ones.
    Thanks,
    Mark
     

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