Name: Courtney Hansen
Age: 28
Hometown: Orono, Minnesota
Currently: America's Hot Rod Hostess
To much of America, Courtney Hansen is the female face of hot rodding. As co-host of TLC's Overhaulin' she's on every week alongside Chris Jacobs and designer Chip Foose, whacking away on some unsuspecting soul's near-muscle machine to transform it into a multi-colored, Baer-braked, Magnaflow-exhausted, BFG-shod media superstar. What's surprising about Courtney is that for a professional pretty face, her automotive roots go pretty deep.
Courtney's dad Jerry Hansen once owned Minnesota's Brainerd International Raceway and won a record 27 SCCA runoff championships. "I grew up in the automotive industry," says Courtney, "it's in my blood. I haven't done any racing, I've never really gone for it myself, but I'm taking a class at Skip Barber. And I'm a fantastic driver."
Right now though she's busy with Overhaulin' and participates in every build. "I especially like the demolition process," she says, "whether it's removing the rearend or taking out the engine and, of course, breaking windshields... I do a little bit of everything. I enjoy it and find it challenging." It's not like the heavy load isn't still on Foose and whomever they've roped into helping on any particular episode, but Courtney isn't obligated to make any effort beyond narration and decoration, yet she does anyway.
Courtney drives a 2004 Thunderbird that has been "Foosified," but she wants a more substantially modified car. She's on the lookout for a '65 Mustang convertible that can be massaged to suit her perk-perky-perkier personality. "I believe a car should reflect a person's personality. And each one of these cars fits that person's personality perfectly. One of my favorites was a '67 Nova. It was just gorgeous. If I were to do a Nova it would be done exactly that way. Very stylish."
Courtney, who consciously rounded the edges off her Fargo-spec Minnesota accent while attending Florida State, sees a bright future for Overhaulin'. "I think it's in our best interest to keep changing things up," she says. "I think we need to do a taxi cab. A police car. It would be neat to do a motorcycle or a boat. We should be constantly trying to keep it fresh. And I definitely believe that Overhaulin' should travel so that people watching the show from their couch in Nebraska feel it's a realistic dream for them too."
So who's the star of Overhaulin? Courtney? Chris? Chip? "The stars" says Courtney, "are the cars."