Author: QMPEditor

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The Fairest of Them All

Larry Dickson’s’71 GTX comes to the Wellborn Collection

By Geoff Stunkard

“That guy came back from Vietnam and simply wanted the baddest car he could find, and he kept the car flawless. He didn’t change out the wheels, didn’t really change the suspension, but he know a few racer tricks, and that is what was done to this car. Just some parts and painting the engine black to get rid of heat, and that car has been that way since 1972.”

Tim Wellborn was talking about what has become a big attraction at the Wellborn Musclecar Museum in Alexander City, a 1971 Bahama Yellow GTX that is the highest-priced Hemi car of all the machines built in the supercar era. The car, through a set of interesting circumstances, came to the collection showing just over 49,000 original miles and is unrestored, though modified.

“That GTX is one rare automobile, and most people would want to bring it back to absolute stock. But being here in the museum and seeing so many people coming in and looking at that, they talk about the changes. The owner put the valve covers on it, put the headers on it, all things that could easily be changed back. In truth, hardly anyone left their engine bay stock back then. You wanted to open the hood and show people what it looked like with your changes; it’s not like today where there is a big plastic cover over the engine. Back then, it was just an extension of the car and how you might personalize that car.”

For Larry Dickson, whose service in southeast Asia had been heroic to the point of being awarded some of the nation’s highest honors such as the Purple Heart and multiple Silver Stars, the car might have been the culmination of a dream of owning a Hemi car while he was busy with much more serious business. He had purchased a new 1970 383” Road Runner when he returned, but went looking for a Hemi car to replace that in early 1972. One way or another, he found out about a highly-optioned ’71 GTX in early 1972; this car would be sold to him through Courtesy Chrysler-Plymouth in Davis, with an added destination charge of 57.00 from Bayshore, New York. We do not know if Larry had them find this car for him or if they already had it on their lot. We do know a bit about what he bought, though.

Indeed, any aficionado of American muscle would have been drawn to this machine.

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THE UNTOUCHABLES

New Barn Finds Exhibit Adds Excitement to Wellborn Museum, Magazine Features Coming (story by Geoff Stunkard)

People think that great cars, even Hemi cars, can’t be found these days. They are certainly not as common as they were once, but Tim Wellborn showed that you can still located rare muscle even now with a great car that was not even known to the hobby prior to 2012. This car will be featured in Mopar Muscle and Musclecar Review magazines in 2013.

“Roger Gibson had heard about this car down in Texas, so I contacted the gentleman who owned it, but I really needed to see some pictures before I’d commit to going to see it. It took several months, and he finally went out and bought a little disposable camera. He sent me that, and as soon as I saw the pictures, we were on our way to Texas!”

The owner, Marcus Hanna of Grovebeck, Texas, had bought the car back in 1972, a real Hemi/four speed Road Runner complete with Dana Super Trak Pak, FJ5 Lime Light paint, and Air Grabber hood. He had done some drag racing with it, and had swapped the stick out for an automatic back in the day. After it had accumulated just 31,000 miles, instead of selling the car when that passion faded, he parked it in a pole barn along with a stash of parts. He had gone on to become a judge in west Texas, and Tim was pretty excited to see this car in those surroundings.

“It has those stickers inside of it, and there are changes that way; the four-speed was swapped out for an automatic to go racing. Some of those things will be repaired, but for the most part, this one will be a time capsule.”

“You won’t ever see that car washed; it has that haze of having sat in a barn and I like that,” he continues. “I am going to get it running and take it to shows, using it to show what a car looks like when it is just found. So, it will bear that patina. It has zero rust, never been wrecked, and only shows a few door dings.”

When the car was safely back in Alexander City, he and Philip Love, one of the coordinators of the day-to-day operations, decided they would use one corner of the museum to display the fresh find. The car originally purchased by Gordon Denzler has already been drawing attention and it was added to this display as well. This 1971 440-6 Challenger R/T with Shaker and long option sheet had been special ordered and purchased in Canada by Mr. Denzler in March 1971; it has a huge amount of paperwork with it (perhaps the most of any Mopar known to have been bought privately) as well as being one of the nicest ’71 R/Ts in unrestored existence. Tim had already planned to keep it that way.

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Wellborn Museum Awarded At MCACN

Tim and Pam Wellborn give and gather accolades at giant Chicago event

By Geoff Stunkard

The annual Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Ill., has become one of the most highly-anticipated events of the year for serious musclecar fans. The Wellborn Museum’s participation this year included multiple cars, a hospitality area in the display area the museum sponsored, and awards, both given and received.

Two cars from the Wellborn collection were honored as celebrity picks. Drew Hardin, Editor of Musclecar Review magazine, chose the recently-found 1970 Hemi Road Runner barn find from among the 500+ cars on hand as best exemplifying the dreams of most enthusiasts. The museum intends to leave the well-preserved but faded Plymouth as an example of what sort of cars are still out there. This four-speed/Dana 60-equipped Hemi car was unknown to the hobby prior to late this summer, residing for decades in a west Texas pole barn.

Meanwhile, legendary Chicago-area Dodge dealer ‘Mr. Norm’ Krause selected the Wellborn’s just-finished 1971 6.1L Hemi Charger tribute as his pick, a stock appearing musclecar with modern driveline and equipment upgrades. This car was on display in builder Ken Mosier’s exhibit area to show his handiwork. Highlighted near the venue’s entrance, the Dodge caught Mr. Norm’s eye early in the event.

The museum sponsored the Aero Warriors display, which was devoted to the NASCAR-oriented body releases by Ford and Chrysler of 1969-1970. As result, they were asked to present an award themselves in that category. After carefully deliberating, Tim chose the recently-completed Dodge Daytona of Tony D’Agostino, a spectacular white/red wing 440 model that had incidentally been awarded 999 of 1000 points in event judging earlier in the weekend.

In addition to the 6.1L and Hemi barn find, the Wellborns exhibited a Hemi Daytona survivor, a Hemi Superbird restored by Aloha Automotive Service, both in the aero display, and their 1972 Javelin pursuit vehicle, formerly owned by the Alabama State Police highway patrol. The latter was part of the special 1972 Invitational section.   As a finale to the weekend, that car was awarded Platinum Pick Judges Choice – Best AMC of the 2012 event.

   

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Wings Over Alex City

The Museum’s Great Group of NASCAR Warriors; the Wellborn Musclecar Museum will display three at MCACN on Nov 17-18.

Story by Geoff Stunkard

“Back in 1969, my dad took me to the Talladega race, and that was when I became interested in the Bobby Isaac Daytona; when that Dodge was going around the track, it just permanently became ingrained in my mind. I never dreamed that someday I would own the real car and drive it, especially not in Germany and at Goodwood and places like that.”

While many people know the Wellborn Musclecar Museum for the terrific collection of 1971 Hemi Chargers there, the aerodynamically-enhanced 'wing car' models from 1969 and 1970 have also been part of the collection since before it started. As Tim states, his attendance at that first race at Talladega played a huge role on his impressionable mind back in 1969; as a result, the car he drove in his high school years was a real Dodge Daytona. This car, Hemi Orange with a 440 and white interior, was his regular driver, but in 1979, it became an even larger tribute to the car Bobby Isaac had piloted back on that September on the high banks of Talladega.

“I found a 2100-mile ‘68 Hemi Road Runner that been totaled, and took the engine, K-member, wiring, everything, and just swapped it right into that Daytona. It all fit perfectly, I got everything needed for a B-Body Hemi, and my goal was to make this into a tribute to Bobby Isaac and the K&K car. So I decided to letter it up, and had the call-out letters, ‘Dodge’ lettered on the nose, and pinstripes painted on it.”

He drove the car for a couple of more years, but money was tight; when he made plans to get married, the Daytona was sold to a gentleman in Atlanta, and Tim lost track of it. As things became better economically, Tim wondered whatever happened to it. Ironically, it came back to him 22 years later.

“I’m getting ready to load up for Barrett-Jackson on a Wednesday night, and I get a phone call. It is the owner I had sold that car to,” he recalls. “I asked him some questions and he says, ‘do you want to buy it back?’ I said, ‘absolutely,’ and I drove straight to Atlanta that following Sunday afternoon when I returned, wrote him a check, and brought it home. It came back showing just 312 miles since the day I had sold it.” Talk about preserving history…

By now, Tim and Pam had already purchased a few other Daytonas and Superbirds. In fact, they were able to purchase the original K&K Insurance Daytona that had been part of the collection at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. This car had set records at Bonneville, and, through Tim’s efforts, got the very first 528” crate motor Hemi from Chrysler. Tim, licensed to drive at speed, then toured the car in exhibition races across Europe, driving it at 150+ mph speeds at places like Germany’s legendary Nürburgring and Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. This car has been on display in the new NASCAR Museum in Charlotte since the day that facility opened.

One car in particular does stand out. This was a Charger Daytona that Tim had found and bought from the owner’s ex-wife, and it has a story. The car was sold through the Lenox Dodge franchise in Atlanta; its origins of its ordering are lost; it was likely bought by the owner Tim found out about through Lenox’ used car department as a repo. CONTINUED Read more

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Amos Automotive Weekly Digital Edition features Wellborn Museum's GSX

Noted restorer Roger Gibson is seen  driving our big bad Buick for an article about the GSX heritage in last week's Amos Auto Digital issue. Includes the cover; cut and paste the link below into your browser to view it!     http://editions.amospublishing.com/AEW/default.aspx?d=20120224

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Flashback: Wellborn Museum’s 1971 Charger Event Sets Stage for 2012 Show

2012 WMM Show date is announced! October 11-13

 

story and photos by Geoff Stunkard

 

The Wellborn Musclecar Museum hosted a very special show late last year honoring the 1971 Charger. With vehicle attendance available by invitation, this unique inaugural has set the stage for an even larger, more inclusive edition this coming October 11-13, 2012.

   

“We wanted to honor the Charger’s 40 year heritage last year because that vehicle has meant so much to Pam and I,” says Tim Wellborn. “However, we really desired to showcase and host something that was for the whole hobby. This October, we are making plans for an event that will be open to all makes of musclecars at our facilty here in Alexander City.”

Due to the invitational nature of the show itself, some people might have misunderstood that attendance to the event’s display was open to the public. The invitational process was simply done to ensure the museum was not overwhelmed by participants, and is again open to a limited number of participants for that reason. The Wellborn Musclecar Museum will release the details for the 2012 version shortly, and recommends that interested parties consider registering early to get one of the available openings. There is room for approximately 150 cars between the museum’s immediate parking lots and the nearby small-town shopping area.

2012 Show Dates: October 11-13

Shown this week are a few images from the Wellborn Musclecar Museum show last October. Taken by Geoff Stunkard, several images are also slated to run in an upcoming issue of Mopar Muscle magazine.    

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Tim and Pam Wellborn: Love, Life and Musclecars

The Convertible E-body: 1970 440-4 'Plymouth Cuda

Musclecar Milestones by Geoff Stunkard

Text by Geoff Stunkard / Photos by John Stunkard

 “My dad had Fords, and my first car was a Mustang, so I was not a Mopar girl when we first met; in fact, I had never seen a Hurst Pistol Grip until our first date when I climbed into Tim’s Charger. I saw it and said ‘what is that thing;’ my first thought was that it was some aftermarket redneck part.”

Pam Wellborn was laughingly recalling her first encounter with Chrysler’s legendary musclecar options. Tim Wellborn and Pam Twilley had known each other in high school, and Tim had arrived in a 1970 Charger for their first date that occasion. While the two enjoyed those carefree days, career and life choices would cause them to go their separate ways into other relationships and responsibilities after graduation. Pam moved to Birmingham to get her nursing degree, while Tim ended up beginning his serious work responsibilities at the family business, Wellborn Forest Products.

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'71 Hemi Chargers: Beginning & End

Story by Geoff Stunkard * Photos by Geoff & John Stunkard

Tim and Pam Wellborn’s legendary collection of musclecars is anchored by their incredible group of authentic 1971 Hemi Chargers (as well as examples with other power from that model release). After all, one of the first cars in the group was a Tawny Gold 1971 Hemi Charger that Tim’s father had purchased not long after these cars ended up on the street. In the ensuing years, Tim and Pam gathered other examples, including famous ones that were road-tested by national magazines and used in factory advertising. Recently, they debuted one of the earliest and the final 426 Hemi examples built.     The first car ends in serial number 00023, and was originally delivered to the legendary Grand-Spaulding Dodge in Chicago. This was likely the very first Hemi car delivered there, and was among those rarities of rarities – a pilot car that was not scrapped. Pilot cars were done to create several examples of each vehicle package; it was especially critical in that summer of 1970, as the B-Body Dodges and Plymouths were completely redesigned for 1971. Moreover, most pilot cars were scrapped as they were actually ‘test shots.’ The pilot process gave engineering, management, and laborers time to decide the sequence of construction, parts fitment, and other details that would be harder to solve once the production line was up and running at speed.

“It’s really unbelievable to own a car built as early as this one,” says Tim Wellborn, who owns it now. “What’s more, we also have the final one built in 1971, meaning you can see both the first and last 1971 Chargers when they are on display.”

The pilot car is painted FE5 Red and was recently subjected to a very complete restoration by noted artisan Roger Gibson as it was purchased disassembled from its previous owner. The car had many unique pieces on it, and Gibson was careful to either replicate or restore those items. This included things like one-off stampings and parts markedly different from what ended up in later production. The window glass is dated 2-70 and the rear springs are off of the 1970 model. More specifically, the 1971 model year ended up being the performance finale for Dodge’s musclecar production – the R/T, the Hemi, the Six Pack, and the Super Bee (now based on the Charger platform) all exited at the end of the model year. To that end, Tim began searching for the last 1971 Hemi Charger to roll off the assembly line, whose VIN ended in 90774 according to Chrysler Corporation records. The car turned up in Michigan, and shows just under 43,000 miles on the odometer. Painted FY1 Top Banana yellow, the car is similar to the pilot car since it is an R/T and included the Hemi / four-speed combination, console interior, and black graphics. The car will eventually end up with Gibson as well, since it is an older restoration; assembled the last day of production, July 30, 1971 there is no question that it is the last-built VIN Hemi Charger. These two bracket no less than 23 other 1971 Hemi Chargers in the collection. All of the cars at the museum will be part of a special event that will take place on the second weekend of October, the 40^th Anniversary Celebration of the 1971 Dodge Charger, which will showcase a group of 150 cars that have been selected for display. The two-day occurrence will encompass presentations and special displays. While the field has been set as of this date, weekend admission to the entire program is available, with local accommodations available. Contact the museum for more info.

 

Wellborn Musclecar Museum

256-329-8474

www.wellbornmusclecarmuseum.com

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Pocket Aces: The 1970 Chrysler Trans Am A-Bodies

Musclecar Masterpieces by Geoff Stunkard

They were called pony cars, models that fit a small but sporty segment between economy models and midsize cars. Named for the sales niche that Mustang had established in 1964, all the major manufacturers were making offerings to this marketplace by 1970. Prior to that, Plymouth had used their A-body platform to release the first Barracudas, but sales proved that it and the Dart from the Dodge Division was not quite what the public wanted. For 1970, it was the new Duster 340 aimed at the economy muscle market, because now Chrysler had released a completely new design, designated as the E-body, to meet the desires for ‘pony’ muscle.

These new models, Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda (that was called ‘cuda in performance trim), could be had with any engine in the Chrysler line-up, right up to the 426 Hemi. Though based on the B-body platform, big blocks in the E-bodies tended to be nose heavy. When it came to handling prowess, the refined 340 small-block ended up being the best overall choice, and you could get the four-barrel version in the both the coupe or convertible E-body styles. For hardcore fans, you could also get a very special E-body with a Holley six-barrel layout, which arrived in the special A53-coded Trans Am models that came off the line in March.

The Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-Am racing series had become a big deal for the manufacturers, and 1970 was by far the most visible year the SCCA ever had. Dodge hired Sam Posey to direct their Challenger program, while Dan Gurney’s All American Racers oversaw the Plymouth ‘cuda development. Part of the SCCA rules required that race-engineered equipment needed to be available on production examples. Thus the Cuda AAR (named after Gurney’s company) and the Challenger T/A (named after the racing series) were born, to homologate that hardware for the racetrack and promote the factory’s involvement in the series.

Continued Read more

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1970 Dodge Challenger T/A Survivor

Musclecar Masterpieces

“I think this is likely the best survivor T/A in existence,” says Tim. “There are a couple of things that have been changed or fixed on it over the years, but it is a real time capsule. I don’t own many small-block cars, but I have never regretted buying this one. Like the AAR, it is a lot of fun to drive.”

Mileage: 30,000

Production: 2400 (989 four speeds)

Color: EB3 Light Blue Metallic with a B5 Blue interior

Standard Equipment: A53 Trans Am package (T/A graphics, fiberglass hood, rear fiberglass spoiler, side exit exhaust, heavy duty suspension, E55 340 engine, D21 four speed, D56 3.55 Sure grip, U01 Goodyear tires - E60 front/G60 rear tires front, V6H tape stripe, W34 collapsible spare)

Continued Read more