Jungle Jim and Jungle Pam Drag Racing Legends

Years before John Force arrived on the scene, drag racing s original flamboyant showman was Jungle Jim Liberman; a largerthanlife individual whose flaming burnouts, glib personality, and boundless energy helped endear him to fans in a manner that eluded other drivers with better winning records. Liberman was much more than a touring professional; with his wild wheelstands, 100mph backups from burnouts, stubborn refusal to lift on even the most outofshape runs, and his curvaceous companion, Jungle Pam Hardy, Liberman provided all the entertainment of a traveling circus. Liberman s life, like the lives of many fastliving icons of youth such as James Dean, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin, was as short as it was fastpaced. He died at the age of 32 after suffering fatal injuries in a headon collision with a bus on Sept. 9, 1977. His premature passing left a void in the sport that wasn t replaced until Force s explosive personality emerged in the late 1980s. T