Over the weekend of November 20 and 21 the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals were held at the 
Donald E Stephens convention center in Rosemont Illinois, just west of Chicago. The significance 
for us of this show was the ‘Cars of Hurst’ display. The MCACN show basically consisted of 
cars entered for show purposes and invitee’s for various displays, of which the ‘Cars of Hurst’ 
display was one and I was lucky enough to be a part of with my 1969 H/O.

Show organizer Bob Ashton had contacted club member Joe Spagnoli in getting some of his cars 
into the event which grew into the Cars of Hurst display. Joe’s idea was to try to get one 
example of every automobile that Hurst produced, of which Oldsmobile obviously played a significant 
part. Doc Watson and Linda Vaughn were participating along with other club members, Fred Mandrick 
with his 1968 H/O and 1975 H/O, Todd Harroun with his 1972 Convertible Pace Car, 1972 Pace Car 
Wagon and mini 1972 go cart, Darryl Bauma with his 1973 H/O, Calvin Badgely with his 1974 4 
Door Pace Car and Delta 88 Pace Car, Larry McDonald with his 1974 Black H/O, Joe Spagnoli with 
his 1968 H/O Convertible, actual 1974 Pace Car and 1979 H/O, Angelo Valenti with his 1983 H/O 
and 1985 Darth Vader FE3X and David Brown with his 1984 H/O.

Not only were the fine H/O’s participating, but the club facilitated in bringing the Hurst Hairy 
Olds which was displayed prominently along with another invitee, the Hurst Hemi Under Glass. 
Other Hurst products included two Hurst Scramblers, paint scheme’s A & B, a 1970 Hurst Chrysler 
300, Doc Watson’s 1972 Hurst SSJ Grand Prix and 1988 Hurst Aero, a 1972 H/O hard top, a 2005 
Chrysler 300C Hurst Edition, two 2009 Hurst Challengers and two 2010 Hurst Camaro’s.

As for the event, it was fantastic!, the Cars of Hurst display took up an impressive amount of 
real estate down the center of the convention center, over a football field long! Doc and Linda 
signed autographs for the adoring public along with other H/O club members that attended. Doc 
was also nice enough to bring the giant Hurst Shifter that was also a big hit.The show also had 
some of the rarest muscle cars including, Hemi Cuda convertibles, Boss 429 Mustangs, Yenko 
Camaro’s, Yenko Chevelle’s and Yenko Nova’s, Baldwin Motion Phase III Corvette’s among others. 
It was the first time I had ever seen a Hurst SSJ Grand Prix in person and maybe only the 
second or third time I had seen a Chrysler 300 Hurst so it was a real treat!

In the end, thousands of people saw Hairy and the Hurst cars, took pictures, milled about, 
asked questions and took club literature with applications so hopefully we will get some returned 
interest. Whether we realize it or not, our cars are a huge draw and in this case with Hairy 
were a powerful self marketing tool and great exposure for the club. The striking line of 
Hurst automobiles was an awesome sight and other non-club members and auto enthusiasts felt 
the same way as evidenced by the weekend’s interest.