Hurst Engineer

[clffhnger]

You sure this Hurst guy isn't just another Lionbait?

[co_big_cheese]

I don't really remember much about lionbait.

Trust me I viewed the whole thing with quite a bit of sceptisism. The guy restoring the vehicle for him actually is the one who first contacted me with questions. I then asked if he would have the owner (Tom) contact me directly. I have since talked to him via email and over the phone (as has lonewolf). So far everything he has said has checked out and I see no reason not to take him seriously.

[co_big_cheese]

Just to clarify, he wasn't an engineer on the Hurst project. He was a "Specifications Engineer" for Jeep, but not directly involved with the Hurst project for the most part (if I remember correctly). He just happened to buy one of the prototypes so he remembers a bit about the project.

This may answer a few questions.

"I worked at Jeep Corp from 1956 until 1975, when I moved to Detroit and AMC... Always in the office side of things, first as a specifications engineer, then eventually into sales Div as distribution manager... Back in the late 60's early 70's Jeep was struggling to sell 40M annually.. We had virtually no marketing department..and spent little on advertising.. Most of our "concept ideas" came from the customers out in your neck of the woods... Colorado and Calif were on the leading edge of pizzaz off road stuff.. (remember Brian Chuchua's place ?) Most of the new Models (i.e. Renegade) started as striping kits with bigger wheels and tires... I suspect the Hurst thing probably was suggested by one of those Jeep/Oldsmobile dealers out there, so our sales division asked our design and research guys to come up with something special to get some extra boost in sales... My car was a protoype for that effort... It had hoodscoop/tach, strg wheel, Hurst shifter, dual exhausts, wider tires/wheels... and we had several paint schemes.. In fact my car was painted one side red with orange wheels, the other side orange with red wheels... with maybe a splash of bright yellow somewhere thrown in... After a several looks/suggestions/pricings by the sales group, I think they downscaled the project, opted for doing it on the hardtop only, with a striping kit, and without dual exhausts.. At least that is the recollection from my 73 year old cranium.

By the way, I bought it "new" from the factory. Back in those days we could buy engineering prototypes, which is not the case anymore. Actual mileage under 16K... The Hurst shifter was removed by a local dealer who traded for the installation of a HD rollbar. I ran in a few sand obstacle races over in the sanddunes of SW Michigan... I never won, but my wife used to do quite well in the women's powder puff events"

[Pack Rat]

Kevin, any idea where in Michigan he lives? We'll be passing through the Port Huron/Detroit area in October with no particular time constraints other than having to be in Asheville by the 10th and home by the 26th. Would love to meet up with him if at all possible.

[co_big_cheese]

Actually I can't find his address. I think I wrote it down when I talked to him on the phone, but I can't locate my notes. Anyway it didn't make it into my normal records. I do have his email & phone number though, so getting ahold of him will be easy.

The telephone # he gave me comes back to a town about 80 miles southwest of Detroit. You can try PM'ing or emailing him through the hurst forums, he recently registered as tomatjeep. Otherwise I'll shoot you his email address.