Auto World’s latest Pop Culture release (SC422) covers four new features in the Mystery Matinée, Hurst Shifters, Rat Fink and Hooker Headers. Each of these icons had their own impact on the culture in their specific groups, some more focused than others, like drag racing, car culture or cult movie fandom. We’ll take a look at each of these four icons, some of their backgrounds and how they found their way into our zeitgeist over the years.
#1A 1969 Dodge Daytona – Primer Gray/Yellow/Blue/Purple/Black
#1B 1969 Dodge Daytona – Burgundy/Black
Founded in 1956 by George Hurst and Bill Campbell, Hurst Performance started in George’s garage. Precise, stronger, reinforced shifter mechanisms were invented to prevent mis-shifts and to allow for faster gear changes. The Hurst shifter was such a game changer, Detroit muscle cars from GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC all adopted the Hurst shifter hardware for higher performance in their top tier line of cars.
#2A 1970 Plymouth Cuda Funny Car – Chrome Red – Hurst
#2B 1970 Plymouth Cuda Funny Car – Chrome Blue – Hurst
Rat Fink is the creation of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and first appeared in the late 1950’s and gained popularity in the 1960’s as a grossed-out anti-hero to Mickey Mouse. Big Daddy built a whole cast of Fink family characters that revolved around hot rod culture and the garage humor around cars, mechanics, racers and girls.
#3A 1972 Ford Baja Bronco – Yellow/Tan/Lime – Rat Fink-Desert Rat Patrol
#3B 1972 Ford Baja Bronco – Orange/Red/White – Rat Fink-Desert Rat Patrol
Gary Hooker bought a 1962 Chevy equipped with the much sought after 409 big block. Shortly after getting it home, he tore it apart and started hopping it up. Gary couldn’t afford to buy performance headers off the shelf, so he made his own. Those home-made headers made more horsepower than a the local shop’s dyno-tuned car with the same motor. Those Hooker Headers were longer and had wider tubing than what was being made and allowed the performance motors breath deep. Soon Gary was cranking out Hooker Headers for race cars, dragsters and anything that wanted to go fast. From 1966 to 1969 he grew the business from $100,000 to $3 million and that was in 1960’s dollars! Now you know how Hooker Headers is a racing icon!
#4A 1969 Chevy El Camino – White/Black/Red #8 – Hooker Headers
#4B 1969 Chevy El Camino – Red/Black/White #8 – Hooker Headers
Here is the packaging for the 2026 Auto World ThunderJet-XTraction-4Gear SC422 Pop Culture release.
Here are a few more angles of this new release.
Trends and fads come and go, but true icons of pop culture that pass the test of time are a true rarity. Auto World’s Pop Culture slot car release are four more great examples of those rare gems that have a lasting impact on our memories and our pop culture. Look for this release at your local hobby shop or favorite web store in March 2026.