Bob Riggle

From the mid-1960s until 1975, the Hemi Under Glass Plymouth Barracuda was one of the best known exhibition drag racers in the country. Piloted primarily by driver Bob Riggle, it thrilled fans by lifting its front wheels & performing a 'wheelie' the length of the track.

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. 

Subject ID: 17689

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From the mid-1960s until 1975, the Hemi Under Glass Plymouth Barracuda was one of the best known exhibition drag racers in the country. Piloted primarily by driver Bob Riggle, it thrilled fans by lifting its front wheels & performing a 'wheelie' the length of the track.

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. Though his first two runs produced heart-stopping landings (one pointed to the left, and a second pointed to the right), the third run convinced Hurst executives that Riggle would be no more likely to total the car than anyone else crazy enough to take on the assignment of driving it.

Subject ID: 17689

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