The concept of 'Grid Girls' has always been a weird one. Scantily clad ladies not doing much but standing around in puffs of smoke, as dudes race fast cars. But pairing pretty ladies with race cars isn't a new thing.
Linda Vaughn was a dental technician when she entered her first beauty pageant. From there she won countless Miss Raceway competitions, gave up the dental surgery and eventually entered and won the Miss Hurst contest in Hot Rod magazine. Her iconic huge blonde hair and sizable chest region made her immediately recognisable, and during the 1960s and '70s she appeared at all the major drag racing tournaments to wave at onlookers and smile.
Vaughn the Trophy Queen became so popular that Hurst had to employ lookalike "Hurstettes" to stand in her place at competitions, and she even did a tour of Vietnam to lift morale of American troops. Weird, huh?
More at theseamericans.com.