Charger fans gathered at the Wellborn Musuem last October for the 40th Anniversary of the 1971 Charger .

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.”

2012 Show Dates: October 11-13

Three sequentially serial numbered Hemi Chargers were among the highlights of the event, which was largest gathering of 1971 Hemi Chargers ever done.

One unique car that came in for this event was the original 440-equipped model that paced the Winston Cup World 600 NASCAR race in Charlotte, N.C., back in 1971.

Inside, a new exhibit on display was this just restored operating Hemi cutaway, one of two in museum and the only one still existent with the transmission attached.

Not only Chargers were on hand; these two E-bodies staked out a comfortable corner in the lot. The Uniroyal sign is authentic and still part of the operating garage next door.

Late models on hand included cars like these from private owners as well as a Petty Enterprises beast with a supercharger that was driven in.

On Saturday night, the Sonic store next door to the museum graciously allowed attendees to fill up the parking lot with vintage musclecars. Contact the museum for 2012 event information!

This 1971 white Dodge Charger 440 4-barrel is heavily laden with options--sunroof (only 33 Charger R/Ts were equipped with sunroofs that year and only three of those were white), 727, power windows, buckets, console, hideaway headlights and, get this--headlight washers. The car was ordered with 14-inch steelies, Goodyear Polyglas G70-14s and no wheel covers (as per the build sheet). Oddly enough, first owner did not opt for air conditioning. To the second owner, Steve, who bought at age 17 in 1971, this Charger was just a car and it became a daily driver. He kept the car stock with the exception of adding an aftermarket A/C system, Keystone mags (but he saved the original rims) and a Bonsonic 8-Track player Oh yeah, he did add louder mufflers but they came off after a couple of year when he finally had enough of those. Steve registered the car in his dad’s name until he was 25 for a break on insurance. After driving it daily until 1978 and logging more than 105,000 miles, Steve parked the car.

Despite several offers to purchase the car, Steve happily kept it in storage. In 2010, Steve wanted to put the car back on the road. A friend of Steve’s told him about a Mopar restoration shop--Creations by Gemza—located about 3 miles from his house. They had heard about this Charger and were anxious to see it. Steve drove the car over and talked about a possible restoration.

Upon inspection, the Gemzas realized that the Charger was a piece of Mopar history and essentially an unmolested survivor. Steve learned that this was one of two identical '71 Chargers purchased by the owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Richard Howard, to promote national NASCAR cup races. Howard bought the cars in February ‘71, lettered them and he and some of his employees drove them thither and yon as rolling billboards to promote the races. The World 600 ran on May 30th (the National 500 ran on October 10th) with Bobby Allison taking the checkered, followed by Donnie Allison, Pete Hamilton, Richard Petty, Fred Lorenzen and Buddy Baker in that order.

The Gemzas bolted back on the original rims and wanted to re-letter the car back to its pace car trim, but there was no reference material to go by. Tim Wellborn, noted collector of 1971 Hemi and 6-pack Chargers, among other cars, plus a ton of memorabilia, saved the day. He had an original program for the 1971 World 600 race, plus a sales brochure with several color photo of the pace car lettered, and he sent copies to the Gemza shop.

Steve will be showing this amazing Charger at Mopar events including the Charger reunion at Tim Wellborne’s Musclecar Museum in Alexander City, AL this October. The car should be quite a hit!

Tim Wellborn wanted this car for the museum for its contribution to muscle car culture.  "The Rockford" or the J-turn has left a mark on popular culture as much as the General Lee jumping over a dirt pile while Bo and Luke screamed YEE-HAW!   When trying to evade someone tailing him or when otherwise cornered, Rockford would shift into reverse, speed up backwards in a straight line and sharply turn his wheels.  This maneuver would spin his car around 180 degrees and he would then quickly shift back into forward gear, speeding off to escape while maintaining a straight course the whole time.  The most recent episode of Top Gear USA, "Hollywood" as Tanner Faust and the boys as they put their TV star stand-ins to the test to see who can do "The Rockford" the best.  Check the embedded video as the man himself evades a C5 Corvette in the 1994 television movie.  And yes, Mr. Garner does all his own stunt driving.

Top Gear 2: Hollywood Cars. [Internet]. 2011. The History Channel website. Available from: http://www.history.com/videos/top-gear-2-hollywood-cars [Accessed 21 Sep 2011].

1970 Dodge Dart, 10,100 original mile, in factory FM3 Panther Pink.

 

The Wellborn Musclecar Museum welcomes this 1970, FM3 Panther Pink, Dart Swinger to the collection.  With only 10,100 actual miles and in intact unrestored original condition, this one would definitely be an object of lust for any enthusiast. The first owner, however didn't quite see it that way.  The car was originally purchased by the first owner's mother as a graduation gift.  His friends continually teased him about cruising around in a pink car.  Embarrassed by it, the Pink Swinger was parked the car and bought himself another set of wheels.  The car surfaced again in 1985 with a mere 4,100 miles on it.  At the time, she was still wearing her original plugs, wires, belts and hoses.  The car still wears them to this day.  The original IBM card was found when the car was recovered, but the broadcast sheet was not discovered until 2006 when a curious new owner pulled the rear seat for the first time.  Car remains one of the most desirably optioned, unrestored 1970 Dodge Dart 340 Swingers known to exist and is a welcome addition to the Wellborn Museum collection.

 

Four years ago, MCG came up with the idea of a Mopar Enthusiast of the Year award - an award to honor those who go above and beyond to promote our hobby to the masses. In 2007 we honored Curtis McIntyre for creating what most enthusiasts thought Chrysler should’ve been building at that time; a modern-day Hemicuda along the lines of the new generation Challenger. Keep in mind, that was before the new Challenger had officially gone on the market! The ‘Cuda was quite an undertaking, since it had to be built off a cut down four-door Charger platform. The car was contracted to be built by the very same company, Metalcrafters, that builds Chrysler’s prototypes and concept cars - so, the end result was nothing short of what you’d expect of an auto show concept car.

For 2008, the award was expanded to encompass two individuals who are inseparable. Bob and Sharon Malcom, who are owner/operators of Malcom Chrysler/Dodge in Peebles, Ohio. Bob and Sharon exemplify what every Chrysler dealer should be, by being ambassador, literally, from coast-to-coast for Chrysler products both new and old.

The following year, as Chrysler Corporation rapidly imploded, was going through bankruptcy, and trying to reemerge under government control, the Mr. Norm’s group kicked it into overdrive and took over while Chrysler was in disarray, mass marketing specialty performance cars and making a new name for the old brand. Most people saw just how much trouble the mother company was in by mid year, at the Chryslers at Carlisle show, when the usual corporate support (new vehicle displays, ride and drives etc.) were nonexistent. If it wouldn’t have been for the large group of modern muscle cars displayed by Mr. Norm’s that year, there would have been no real new car representation at Carlisle. Financially driving the Mr. Norm’s Group is Bill Sefton, our Mopar Enthusiast of the Year for 2009. It wasn’t just Bill’s financial and business muscle that landed him the Enthusiast of the Year accolade though, it was much more than just that - it was his unselfish philosophy of sharing his personal time and car collection with other enthusiasts for ride and drives. Doing things like that sealed the deal that year.

This year, the whole world seemed to be sucking in their money to pay off loans and reduce debt. Very few were investing in the future, and spending money on muscle cars was low on everybody’s “to do” list. That’s not to say people stopped appreciating muscle cars, they just took a “let’s wait and see” approach, awaiting clarification of where things were headed, like health insurance, taxes, and interest rates. While that approach is certainly prudent, it’s that money that’s not being spent, that is needed to grease the wheels of the economy and get people back to work. Certainly not taking a blind eye to the nation’s economy, but realizing life is short, this year, Tim Wellborn and wife Pam opened an everlasting homage to the muscle car that is destined to outlast most of us, insuring muscle car history lives on long into the future. Brilliantly refurbishing a classic old car dealership in Alexandria, Alabama, the Wellborns have massed over sixty very significant muscle cars on display.

The way I understand it, Tim and Pam have a trust set up for the museum, funding it for many years after they’re gone. Because the museum is a “muscle car” museum, it houses Fords, Chevys, Buicks, Pontiacs, and AMC’s alike, but anyone who’s been there will tell you it’s a Mopar museum first and foremost. It’s also a treasure trove of Mopar history, housing original artwork, NOS parts, and even Harry Hyde’s (of K&K Insurance fame) personal briefcase with all of his original correspondence back and forth with NASCAR! The Wellborn museum is set up for a multitude of gatherings going into the future, and the plans are to have at least one gala event each year that’s designed to inspire the imagination of both young and old enthusiasts alike. There’s even talk of a brick and mortar wing being built specifically for MCG’s proposed Mopar Hall of Fame.

When you roll into the Alabama welcome center and get a free map, you’ll notice a couple of attractions pictured on the front; the USS Alabama Battleship Park in Mobile being one, and another being the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum! So, for 2010, we salute Tim Wellborn as Mopar Enthusiast of the Year for literally putting Mopar muscle cars on the map for years to come!

On Monday, November 22nd Chrysler brought the Hemi Highway Tour to the Museum to showcase their newly re-designed Charger and the new 392 Challenger. It was an exciting day for everyone. Many Mopar fans turned out espcially from the Deep South Mopar Club. Everyone was wowed by the cars. The new Charger is a "Charger" it has all those 70's ques that we all loved. I can see Pam and I driving one soon, especially when they come with the 6.4 engines. And I'm betting they do.

Visit redletterdodge.com and follow them on the tour across the country.