the hot rod girl gang

We don’t know much about this girls-only hot rod club from the 1950s, except that they’re damn cool. They called themselves the Dragettes (yes!), had matching jackets, and an aura of indisputable cool. Even the best internet sleuths struggle to dig up any information on these ladies, but what we do know is that drag racing and car gangs were a pretty big deal at the time. And that there was at least one kick-ass group of dolls who didn’t care about the gender norm that dictates that cars are ‘boy’s things’. The photos were taken by LIFE photographer Francis Miller who had his own, equally intriguing life: kicked out of the US Navy after getting into a fight in Reykjavik, he picked up a camera and became known for hating men, loving taking pictures of women, his harsh-but-fair nature and charming Southern drawl.