Burnout queen, Sylvia Hauser, passed away in her sleep on Easter Sunday. Having tried her hand at banger racing she felt the need for more speed and bought herself a ’66 Mustang which she ran unofficially on a disused airfield. She then ventured to Santa Pod for the first time and, inspired by Paula Murphy in her Funny Car, decided to have a go at drag racing.
Thanks to a friend, her first drive came in 1973 in the Swartz Brothers Pro-Stock Chevy Nova, then switched to Mopar with a Dodge Charger 440 named Mopar Miss.
A production Dodge Challenger came next and, with help from her husband Geoff, Sylvia Production Championship. In 1980 the couple imported an record-holding Dodge Challenger which took the Top Modified win its first time out. Sylvia was the first UK driver, male or female, to take all 5 national titles in one year, something she achieved in ’79, ’81, and ’83. Another achievement in 1981 was when Sylvia and her Challenger were featured in the April issue of this very publication.
