 |
|
The controversial Budweiser Rocket Car, the protégé
of the SMI Motivator, with Hal Needham and Stand Barrett alongside. (Image
source: bluebird-electric.net)
|
Naturally, when I heard the words Stunt Woman
and Speed Racer when perusing the New York Times Obituary
section, I said Whoa Nelie! What's that All about?
And making me even more curious was the
article's beginning, on a Dry Lake Bed in the Alvord Desert in Oregon; Huh?
This Brazen Femme fatale tapped the "Loud Pedal" twice before rocketing
into the distance in a Blur aboard the SMI Motivator; Say What?
The woman at the controls of this three wheel
Rocket Car was Kitty O'Neil, who'd set the Land Speed Record for Females in December,
1976.
Yet making Kitty's Daring Feat even more
remarkable, was Hurtling to an Uber Stout velocity of 618mph-plus on her first pass,
before shrieking back on her second flying Kilometer run to record a two-way
average of 512.710mph - is the fact that she was Deaf!
As Kitty's record as the Fastest Woman still stands
some 42 years later!
Kitty first hoped to become an Olympic platform
Diver for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, but was sidelined with a broken wrist,
along with suffering from Spinal Meningitis. before deciding she wasn't
interested in Diving anymore, as it
wasn't Scary enough for Her!
As Kitty's "Need for Speed" began
by racing motorcycles, where she met fellow motorcycle racer and future partner
Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton,
who was a Stuntman working for Stunts Unlimited.
After Hambleton spent two years teaching her the
tricks of the trade, and how to protect herself, Kitty was ready to become a
professional Stunt Woman.
Kitty quickly landed work on two Hit 1970's TV
Shows, where she Stunt double for such leading Ladies as Lindsay Wagner, flipping
a Dune Buggy in The Bionic Woman. And Linda Carter, jumping then a record 127-feet
in a Super Woman episode; aye Karumba!
Kitty also worked on other television shows
like Quincy and Beretta, along with working in such movies as Airport 77, The
Blues Brothers, Omen II and Smokey and The Bandit II to name a few work
projects before retiring in 1982.
But apparently racing motorcycles wasn't fast
enough for this Dare Devil, who ultimately held 22 land & water Speed
Records, including water skiing at 275mph! While O'Neil ultimately gravitated
towards Rocket Powered vehicles, with her zenith coming aboard the SMI
Motivator, for which I'd never heard of before.
This Hydrogen peroxide propelled Rocket Car
was owned by the legendary Stunt Director Hal Needham, for which Y'all might
have heard of him? Can Yuhs Say Smokey and The Bandit?
While O'Neil had connections to Needham,
who's Stunt Company was named Yuhs Guessed It! The aforementioned Stunts
Unlimited, for which Kitty was the first female member.
Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to keep
Wonder Woman's lasso, which would have come in handy during her Land Speed
Record attempt. As Needham had signed her to a contract allowing her to only utilize
60% throttle power for only breaking the women's Land Speed record.
As Needham wanted the glory of breaking the
overall Land Speed Record All to himself!
But dialing in more power was not an option for O'Neil: under her contract, she was only permitted to drive the "Motivator" to a new women's record. The movie director Hal Needham had paid $25,000 for the chance to steer the car to a new overall world record, and he was determined not to lose that chance to a woman. So, after O'Neil set her record, Needham rather unceremoniously demanded that she be pulled from the drivers' seat. (His spokesman even told reporters that it would be "degrading" for a woman to hold the "man's" record.) While the lawyers squabbled, it began to snow, and Alvord was closed for the season. Needham never even got behind the wheel."
(Source: gregwapling.com)
As John Radewagen, a Chicago PR Man
representing Needham and the Gabriel Toy Company that was preparing to launch
Hal Needham Action Figure toys, claims he was falsely quoted over the Sexist
remarks, albeit the Needham toys were "Pulled!"
While Kitty would have her own action figure Doll
marketed by Mattel. Along with a television movie about her life called Silent
Victory, The Kitty O'Neil story starring Stockard Channing produced.
Then further muddying thee waters, reportedly
the SMI Motivator was severely damaged and a second Motivator built, before
Hollywood Stuntman and latter 'RASSCAR "bomber" pilot Stan Barrett
controversially broke the Sound Barrier in '79 aboard Needham's newest three
wheeler incarnation, the Budweiser Rocket, a
direct descendant of the SMI Motivator.
As I've scribbled
'bout the Budweiser Rocket previously upon No Fenders Wayback in Twenty-ten,
but wasn't aware of the SMI Motivator until reading Kitty O'Neil's obituary in
the New York Times...