Hurst Equipped: More Than 50 Years of High Performance

George Hurst was a hot rodder at heart, but he was also a visionary, an innovator, a brilliant promoter, and particularly skilled at building alliances. Hurst developed and marketed a high-performance line of shifters that led the industry and became the cornerstone of the company. After forming an alliance with Anco Industries, Hurst marketed and sold more than 100 speed parts that included shifters, heads, wheels, and many other parts. Eventually, the Hurst catalog became the source for high-performance parts in the 1960s and 1970s.

Jack "Doc" Watson joined Hurst and became a pivotal figure within the company, which led to many performance projects with Pontiac. Over the years, Hurst was also able to partner with Oldsmobile to build special 442s known as the "Hurst" Olds, with AMC to build the wickedly effective SC Rambler, and with Chrysler, to create a number of Super Stock cars as well as the 300H. He also helped build one of the most memorable exhibition cars in drag racing history, the Hemi Under Glass.

No other company or individual has had as big an impact on so many aspects of the automotive industry as George Hurst. His performance parts were some of the best ever, the competition cars won many races, and the muscle cars that bear his name were some of the best of the era. Scores of interviews, in-depth research, and exceptional insight from veteran magazine editor Richard Truesdell and co-author Mark Fletcher have created a great book. Hurst Equipped captures the complete story from the production cars and race cars to the performance parts.

Mark Fletcher has been a regular contributor to several automotive websites and magazines. Fletcher currently resides in Steven's Point, Wisconsin.

Richard Truesdell is a veteran magazine editor with more than 25 years of experience. He has written scores of magazine articles and has been the editor-in-chief of Chevy Enthusiast and Car Audio and Electronics. Currently, he is the editorial director of Automotive Traveler. Truesdell lives in Sun City, California.