Ransom note

She went by the name Thunder Woman when she raced Jet Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters in the USA, but before that Sue Ransom carved a solid career in circuit racing and rallying in Australia, in between working as a motoring journalist and in motoring PR - and she founded the ground-breaking AMC TV motoring programme, 'Torque'. This is her story.

Story: Steve Normoyle

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Early days

In her last year at school, Sue Ransom fancied earning a bit of spending money by getting a part time job running deliveries for the local chemist. There was only one problem: Sue did not have a drivers’ licence.

So she ‘stole’ her mother’s Falcon, and then drove it from their home on Sydney’s northern beaches to the motor registry in Rosebery in the eastern suburbs, where she promptly sat for, and passed, her NSW drivers’ licence test.

Sue’s mother was not impressed by the bold initiative her daughter had shown in the pursuit of a job. Once she’d calmed down, Mrs Ransom dragged young Sue ‘kicking and screaming’ to Warwick Farm to enrol her in an advanced driving course.