I’m not completely familiar with drag racing history, but I learn more about it through vintage car magazines.
This study effort is a lot more interesting than learning about ancient Greek history, so I appreciate any new knowledge I get from vintage magazines.
I recently found an old drag racing magazine from July 1967 and discovered Paula Murphy.
Jerry Sutherland
If you showed me the lineup for the 1967 Daytona 500, I could tell you what kind of car every guy drove–and give you a basic assessment of their win-loss record that year.
Paula Murphy was another story. I’d never heard of her, but this nearly 60-year-old magazine had a feature story about her. She was one of those invisible legends, because Paul Murphy was a ground-breaking force in the world of racing.
Her career started in 1956 when she went to the 1956 Memorial Day race in Santa Barbara. Murphy thought the race was boring, but she bought an MGTC and joined the sports car world.
Murphy had to be talked into joining the (WSCC) Women’s Sports Car Club that year and won her first race in an Alfa Romeo in the under-1500 class. She also split from her husband in 1956.
The women’s racing classes went away in 1963, so Paula Murphy started competing in the men’s races 1963 and ran a Lotus in F-Production Class. Her first win came at Riverside in a Ferrari—same licensing and standards as men. She also did really well in a Maserati.
Murphy connected with Andy Granatelli and STP that year and set herself up for a big boost in the racing world. She was given a Studebaker Avanti with two other drivers and broke all the records for non-stop driving over thousands of miles.
STP also set her up for a speed run in a ’64 Avanti (right off the dealer floor) and hit 154 miles per hour at Bonneville. The next day Murphy was set up with a race-prepared Avanti and broke the 2-way record at 161.29. She then set 23 new standing start records for women in the sane car that same day.
Murphy acquired a serious need for speed at that point, so she drove a jet-powered drag racer called The Avenger on a bad surface to a two-way average 226.37 record for women in ’64. That run set the tone for Murphy’s career.
She was hooked on drag racing after the Bonneville run but Murphy had no experience. She had raced sports cars, done rallies, endurance runs, and economy runs but the ¼ mile world was brand new to her.
Murphy ran an Olds 442 for a couple of years in Stock Eliminator and her best time was 12.46 at 100 mph. She wanted to go faster.
That’s why she moved up to Funny Cars and drove a Mopar-powered Mustang. Murphy also became Miss STP with her move up to the Funny Cars. This was also the first time Murphy ran into opposition from her male competitors, so she went through a license review because of fears about her safety in the Funny Car class.
She got through it and broke the 200-mph barrier in 1968. Murphy switched to a Barracuda and became one of the top match racers in the late 60s and early 70s.
Murphy was invited to Talladega Speedway in 1976 and drove Richard Petty’s STP car to a NASCAR women’s closed-course record of 172.336 mph.
Her career was dramatically altered in 1974 at Sears Point Raceway when Murphy hit 258 mph at the track and her rocket engine didn’t shut down. Her chutes ripped right off the car and Murphy went off the track at 300 mph.
She ended up with a broken neck and that shut down her career. Murphy didn’t quit entirely so she made a comeback running a much tamer Datsun in B/Modified “just for fun” as she called it.
Paula Murphy entered the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
In my opinion, those were well-deserved honors. Stories like Paula Murphy’s are why I like to uncover racing history.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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