Paula Murphy has raced a Porsche RS, a Birdcage Maserati, a Ferrari (she won her first race overall in a Ferrari at Riverside) and a
Studebaker Avanti. Murphy drove an Avanti labeled “Avanti-Studebaker” and “Cross Country Record Maker” from Los Angeles to New York in 1963. She set a coast-to-coast speed record of 49 hours, 37 minutes. Murphy became the “world’s fastest woman on wheels” when she achieved an average speed of 161.29 miles per hour through the “flying mile” on the salt flats speedway in Bonneville, Utah. This included the women’s land speed record of 172 mph with an internal combustible engine. Murphy was part of a crew sponsored by Studebaker that set 370 new speed records at Bonneville during one week of October in 1963. Over the years and in partnership with the Granatelli brothers Paula broke an amazing 300 USAC land speed records.
Studebaker Avanti R1007 - The Bonneville car labeled number "9."
