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Wellborn Museum Awarded for Barn Find HEMI Roadrunner

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner HEMI – Barn Fresh

Muscle Car Review Editor (MCR), Drew Hardin awarded Tim Wellborn the Editor's Choice award at Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) 2012 for his barn-found '70Hemi Roadrunner.  Keep an eye out for a full MCR feature coming soon!

About This Car

This 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner HEMI was sold new and lived its entire life in the same locality until joining the collection of the Wellborn Musclecar Museum. Bought in Wichita Falls, Texas it had the same owner since 1973 until being pulled from the open lean-to style barn in July of 2012. Cars like these, though not cosmetically perfect, do lend testimony to how they were enjoyed by the people who were the first to owned, them as well as to the era they hail from. This example as never before been recorded by any registry or 3^rd party inspector before being unearthed by Wellborn. It is also believed to be the only '70 Hemi Roadrunner optioned in Limelight, White Vinyl top, and White Interior. I suppose if you can't have air conditioning, the white top and white interior kept the Texas sun from cooking the cabin and burning your thighs.



Showing 46,273 clicks on the odometer, we know a fair number of those miles were spent shuttling to and form the drag strip, then hurtling itself down the 1320. An original 4speed car, it is currently fitted with a 727 Torque-Flight and ratchet style shifter. The original A-833 4speed manual transmission was in the trunk, stored in an old beer box. Other curious details abound, like the GM radio for instance. “Thrush” and “Hays” stickers protect the rear side panel paint on each side. The tell tale spatter pattern etched into the paint around the battery box, makes us grateful for gel-cell batteries today. Found in the glove box was the original owner's fishing license from 1969. Not only do we know his name was N.L. Hamilton, but he was 29, 5 foot 10 inches, weighed 185 pounds, had blue eyes and brown hair. I guess it is true, you can tell a lot about a man by the car he drives.

About 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner HEMI

Chrysler had proven to the world that the HEMI was the king of the drag strip, but stodgy designs left them struggling to translate that to sales success on the street. In 1968 Plymouth was looking to capture more market share with a completely redesigned mid sized car, wrapped in a youth oriented package to rival Pontiac's “Judge”. $50,000 paid to Warner Brothers and the Plymouth Roadrunner was born, complete with the “Voice of the Roadrunner” Meep! Meep! horn sound.

1970 was an interesting year because the entirely new 1971 mid-sized body styles were already in their final phases by the time the '70 model year refresh was due. The problem was that the 1969 model front grill was drastically different than the upcoming '71. The solution? Style the 1970 front end to more closely resemble that of the all new car coming down the pipeline. The result? The 1970 Roadunner styling is the most popular amongst all 1970 Mopar B-Bodies. 1971 Plymouth? Ironically, the among the least.



Vehicle Specifications
Production: 1970
Class: Muscle Car
Body Style: 2-door Coupe
Curb Weight: 3,475
Wheelbase: 116 inches
Length: 204 inches
Transmission: 4-speed Manual
Engine: 426 Cubic Inches
Power: 425 Horsepower
Top Speed: 140 miles per hour
Exterior Color: Limelight Green, White Vinyl Top
Interior Color: White

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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.

Read more

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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.

Read more

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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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1969 Dodge HEMI Daytona flies into 2012 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN)

The Wellborn Musclecar Museum is sponsoring the 2012 Aero Warriors display as this year's Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, November 17th and 18th, 2012 in Rosemont, IL.  The Museum will host the "Aero Lounge" at the center of the display.  This will be an oasis of leather couches and padded carpeting in the sea of over 550 cars on display for the two day event.  The Aero Lounge will be flanked on either side by significant winged cars from the prime of the Aerocar Era of NASCAR.   Most significant will be the only 1969 Hemi 4spd Daytona left known to exist still equipped with its original motor.

The 1969 Daytona was a Chrysler Engineering marvel designed to better compete in NASCAR against Ford who held the top speed record of 189 mph.  Dodge already having the dominant HEMI, decided that the aero group had the best change of taking the top speed and overall win crown in NASCAR.  They proposed a rear "Y" airfoil to keep the car planted, the front nose cone balanced out the aero package, resulting in one the most stable race cars ever produced.  The goal was a 5mph increase over the top lap speeds recorded at Daytona Motor Speedway.  The result was the first NASCAR race car to eclipse the 200 mph barrier.

To homologate the Dodge Daytona for 1969 race season, they had to be build quickly, each '69 Dodge Charger hand converted by Creative Industries.  Excitement over the car by the public was palpable.  Dodge dealers had committed sales orders for over 1500 copies of the Dodge Charger Daytona.   Of the 503 made, only 70 were HEMI Daytonas and of those only 20 were 4 speed, manual shift cars.

Currently, only 11 four-speed HEMI Daytonas are known to exist.   The Wellborn Musclecar Museum is home to XX29J93412548, the ONLY ONE that retains it's original, numbers matching drivetrain.  Documented by two broadcast sheets, this is a 6,000 original mile car and still retains all of her original interior and aside from the hood, she also has all of her original body panels.  She spent most of her early life as an IHRA show car, note the "before" photo of the show car paint scheme before the car was restored back to stock original.

Just prior to restoration, the car was procured by Otis Chandler's Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife.   Mr. Chandler had the car restored by the legendary Roger Gibson to stock specifications.   The car has also been featured in many hardbound books including "American Muscle, Muscle Cars from the Otis Chandler Collection" by Randy Leffingwell.   The vehicle is currently part of the Wellborn Musclecar Museum, owned by Tim and Pam Wellborn and featured in the hardcover book "The Art of the Musclecar" by David Newhardt.  Tim will be available during the MCACN show to autograph copies of this book which includes a total of 22 cars in the museum collection.

Considering the performance driven design, hand built limited run, and the revolutionary impact Daytona had on racing, it is certainly an iconic car.  Given that only 20 HEMI 4 speeds were ever made and this is the only one that remains with its original engine, it is most certainly rare.  And of course, also retaining her original interior and body panels, makes her a highly original example.  These are the reasons that this car has been the centerpiece for other significant collections like Otis Chandler's and Tim and Pam Wellborn.  So, make plans to join the Wellborn Musclecar Museum at the 2012 MCACN show, the relax amongst this and many other iconic Aero Warriors.

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DATE CHANGE: Inaugural Wellborn Muscle Cars at the Museum Event moves to Spring 2013!

The Inaugural Wellborn Muscle Cars at the Museum Event has been moved to May 9-11th 2013.  Making this a Spring event will allow us to draw on a higher caliber of cars, better availability of celebrity guests, and better weather for the outdoor elements of the show.   The event was originally scheduled for October 11-13th of 2012.  Can't wait to see you in May 2013!

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Wellborn Unrestored Boss 429 visits Town & Country Ford for Mustang's Birthday

Mustang turned 48 April 17, 2012.  The Wellborn Musclecar Museum's benchmark quality unrestored 1970 Boss 429 is headed to its birthday party; the Big Show '12 Mustang and All Ford Show held at Town and Country Ford in Bessemer, Alabama. KK2097 is the lowest mile unrestored 1970 Boss 429 known to exist, showing only 4,770 actual miles.   For those who aren't familiar with the car, it was out Featured Car of the Month in July of 2010.  Join in the fun Saturday, April 21st, 2012 and catch a FREE glimspe of the history on display everyday at the Wellborn Musclecar Museum.

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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.