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GOOD LUCK, LAS VEGAS STYLE! ?╟÷ Dancer Shirley Kirkes presents Desert Inn dune buggy drivers (left to right) Glenn Sheldon and Tom Curl with a string of lucky charms ranging from a horseshoe to the winning end of a wishbone that were contributed by showgirls in the "Pzazz '68" cast for whom the car is named. he Desert Inn entered a dune buggy named after its musical revue "Pzazz '68" in off-road racing's biggest and richest event, the 711 mile Stardust 7-11, which was held in Las Vegas in June under the auspices of the National Off Road Racing Association. NORRA ran the race under its 1968 rules for major events which provided eight classes of competition for all types of vehicles. "Pzazz" finished fourth in its class and was one of the thirty out of 137 original starters who was able to even complete the grueling desert competition. Two leading contenders, James Garner and Steve McQueen, were wiped out by mechanical failures during the first day of the more than forty hour race. The "Pzazz '68," a customized 1963 Volkswagen, was a project of the entire Desert Inn cast for many months. The chassis of the dune buggy was specially made and the rear brake system was split so that either side worked independently of the other. One unusual safety feature was a twelve-foot aerial whip which mounted a pennant to make spotting easier in the event the car got trapped between sand dunes. :yyyym<??'' ""m%. mty- iCr]j W3M*m&yM3 ill : ?╟≤ ?√ß. The Desert Inn showgirls are out to demonstrate that they know as much about building and designing cars as men do. Of course, they are not full size cars, but scale models. According to the Hobbby Association of America, assembling and customizing model car kits is a multi-million dollar hobby largely dominated, until now, by the male sex. 'Pzazz" showgirl Bonnie Palma, 38-24-36, brings her hobby back stage with her. She has built more than 300 model cars. Featured in every production number, the tall statuesque Venus is one of the loveliest girls to ever adorn a stage in Las Vegas, which can boast of the most beautiful girls in the world. Unlike most showgirls, Bonnie is up by 10:00 every morning although her working day ends at 2:00 a.m. Besides building model cars, she spends many of her free hours on the Desert Inn Country Club course where she shoots in the low 90's. The rest of her time is devoted to Lake Mead where she dons her water skis to skim over the huge lake's surface. When you see "Pzazz '68" in the DI's Crystal Room, give a wink to this cute blonde, third from the left. Who knows, she might wink back?