Linda Vaughn

People

Regular readers will doubtlessly realise that we here at Influx Towers are fascinated by Show Girls. The fact that our own lovely Fluxbabes are at the pinnacle of the promotional profession has something to do with it.

But, the axe that we have continued to grind is that you can gauge the spirit of the automotive times by the aesthetic qualities era’s showgirls.

Read what you like into this piece of homespun semiology, but we’re dedicated to the study of showgirl styles past and present.

And, it’s taken a while, but we finally believe we may have stumbled across the ultimate showgirl in Linda Vaughn.

From the late sixties all the way through to the eighties, the girl from Atlanta Georgia started her career as the slightly less glamorous role of a dental technician, but began a life as the First Lady of Drag Racing in 1961 after winning the coveted beauty title of Miss Atlanta Speedway.

For the next three decades Linda was an extremely high profile presence on the tracks, strips and ovals of America.

This was of course at a time when America was booming and the reach of the Auto industry and its race sponsorship was incredibly far reaching.

It’s easy to scoff at what may seem a trivial contribution wrought in skin-tight lamé and rhinestones; but when you think of how grand a scale US motorsport was at the time Linda was a star amongst stars.

As the showgirl who came to define the boom time era of American racing, Ms Vaughn, we salute you!




Images Via Jalopy Journal

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