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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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One of the Many "star cars" Expected at the '71 Charger Anniversary Event

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!

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Jim Rockford's Firebird pulls a "J" turn into the Wellborn Museum

Strictly speaking, most muscle car hard-liners don't believe the Big Three produced cars after the 1972 model year.  And for the most part they are right.   One brand in particular held the candle out longer than most any other- Pontiac.  Their most desired Pony Car didn't even debut until 1973 when the 455 Super Duty hit the scene.  In TVland, Dodge was resting on the laurels of their 1969 Charger ten years later, with the premier of the Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.  Pontiac kept Jim Rockford in a fresh set of wheels.  As a Private Investigator, James Garner's character couldn't pull off the Hemi Orange and welded doors look.  I am guessing the giant "01" on the doors and Stars and Bars emblazoned on the roof would be easy to make when he was attempting to tail a bad guy. Jim Rockford drove a street sleeper, this very 1978 Firebird Esprit for the majority of the series AND in the made for TV movies 1994-1999.  Un-adorned by a screaming chicken on the hood and white walls, the bad guys would never suspect the performance driving Rockford was capable of.

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].

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Wellborn Proudly Welcomes Unrestored, 10k mile, FM3 Dart to Collection

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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.

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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)

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1970 Plymouth Cuda AAR Survivor

Musclecar Milestones

“I really enjoy this car,” says Tim. “Compared to the other Mopars, it handles like something modern, and it responds; it’s definitely the most fun car in my collection. I normally keep a set of radials on it so I can take it out when I want to just drive. I bought it thinking I’d resell it; after driving it, now I will never sell it.”

Mileage: 20.600

Production: 2724 (1,120 four speeds)

Color: FE5 Rallye Red paint with accompanying A22 elastomeric bumpers, black interior

Standard Equipment: A53 Trans Am package (15x7 Rallye wheels, AAR 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)

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TIME & SPACE For Buick fans, the GSX was the best launch of the Space Age

On the road? Actually, the GSX is making tracks at an airport with Roger Gibson driving. The styling of this particular car may have scandalized the dealerships it was sold through, but it cemented the legend of Buick in the minds of the performance enthusiasts. John Stunkard photo.

Museum Masterpieces by Geoff Stunkard

VEHICLE: 1970 Buick GSX

Engine: Buick 455 Stage 1

Transmission: M22 Rock Crusher by Muncie

Rearend: 3.46 PosiTrac

Interior:  black vinyl

Wheels: Rallye type

Tires: Goodyear Polyglas G60-15

Special Parts: GSX package, Saturn Yellow paint, Stage 1 engine

Owned by The Wellborn Musclecar Museum

Astronaut Neil Armstrong talked of mankind's steps as he became the first person who ever walked on the moon, and for many musclecar fans, what was happening back on earth was also pretty far out, too. After all, the auto manufacturers had announced they would be pushing the limit for the 1970 model year. Chrysler's Six Pack and Hemi engines would be in a new line of sporty E-bodies, Ford had 429-cid engines in street (SCJ) and race (Boss) trim, and GM lifted its 400-cid limit in midsize performance models.

Under the hood are 455 inches of Buick big-block in Stage 1 trim. Buick's casting technology made this engine almost 150 pound lighter than the Chevrolet 454" that also arrived in 1970.

Buick was one of the more 'stoic' brands being built, just below Cadillac in the GM hierarchy of excellence. However, that had not kept the Flint, Mich. company from engaging in projects with a more youthful outlook. The GS-series models based on the Skylark had carried that banner forward during the 1965-1969 years, using the thin-wall cast Buick big-block at 400" for power after its arrival in 1967. For 1970, both the 400" and the 430-cid Buick luxury engine were superseded by a new package that pumped out a big 455" cubes. It should be remembered that the 455" used by Buick was not the same as the 455" displacements offered by Pontiac or Oldsmobile (which were also different from each other).

Buick made use of an over-squared (bore larger than stroke) design in the new engine, and offered it in different states of tune. In the new GS455 model, it was paper-rated at mere 350 horse at a lowball 4600 rpm, with 425 lb./ft. torque. Buick was notorious for underrating true performance numbers, perhaps to persuade buyers to consider other options in the GM line, and most likely to allow the division to fly beneath the 'respectability' flag of its banker and broker audience. Most people in the know will quickly tell you that Buicks could hold their own against most anything else that was factory-available once that 455" lung became the mill of choice.

Ironically, Buick stayed with tried-and-true Rochester-design Quadrajet, even in Stage 1 trim. Replacements are hard to come by if you need one, to say the least.

Pontiac offered various states of tune for their 400” and new 455” mills (the Ram Air II,III, and IV packages), while Olds had what they called the W30 option . Buick used a hop-up they called Stage 1 available from the factory, and a Stage 2 that was dealer-installed. The Stage 1 program, begun in 1969, continued into 1970 with a hotter cam and reworked heads with larger valves. That got you another 10 horsepower at a mere 4600, to 360 hp on paper (with the true max rpm power ‘sweet spot’ someplace well north of 400 ponies) and a monstrous 510-lb/ft of torque at 2900 rpm. The cars were capable of times in the mid-13s, impressive when considering that these were fully-optioned machines with the same standard of quality that all Buicks were noted for.

But getting back to our space-age analogy, the names Saturn Yellow and Apollo White would be enshrined forever as special to Buick fans when the Chicago Auto Show opened in early 1970. Buick had pulled out all of the stops with a new model they called the GSX. Announced in the print advertising of the time as a Limited Edition, the X was a special $1195.87 option on the GS455 hardtop. Only the two aforementioned colors were offered, using black graphics and black-out hood, spoilers fore and aft, a hood-mounted tach, upgrades to the suspension, and more. Optional G60-15 Goodyear Polyglas tires, the last hurrah of OEM street bias-plies as the radial age dawned, made it handle. A fully-dressed GSX could come off the showroom floor with a sticker price of approximately $5,000, not small change in that time, but its appearance and notoriety were guaranteed to turn heads in any setting.

From behind, the biggest visible change was the trunk-mounted wing that stretched from fender to fender, coupled to a black stripe and special GSX logos. Cool...

The car in the Wellborn collection is one of 188 that received the 455 Stage 1/M22 rock-crusher four-speed combo. There were only 678 GSXs produced in 1970, and the few examples produced after that first year suffered from the decline in compression ratios that affected all GM models. Like all other 1970 GSX models, the car in the collection has a black vinyl bucket seat interior, plus the Sonoramic radio.

Inside, the GSX models all had black interiors; this one used the front bucket seats and special consolette with four-speed Hurst shifter. Options on these model were minimal other than radios…

“We wanted to have an example of all the midsize GM performance models from 1970,” remarks Tim Wellborn. “The GSX is a legendary example of just how extreme things became. I like driving this car because it really is a Buick in terms of its build and ride quality, but it is also a real musclecar in terms of performance.”

The 1970 GSX would be a true legend of the age; the relative few that were built were treasured by their owners and made no bones about their ability when put to the test during a stoplight or highway joust. As a result, it has a fitting home in the collection, and a most deserving vehicle of the title 'muscle car.' Even (or perhaps especially) as a Buick…

GS options included on the Wellborn GSX

* A-X (included Stage 1 performance 455” engine, plus A-9 parts – GSX exterior trim, paint, hood-mounted tach, and color-coordinated mirrors and headlight bezels.

* B-M (included B-3 Manual transmission, B-4 consolette, B-8 floorpan with shift opening)

The hood-mounted tach, which has been introduced by Pontaic, was a fantastic touch to the image of the GSX. Black-out time, body-color outside mirrors, and spoilers completed the look.

Other options

* C-D  Quick ratio steering and power disc brakes

* D-1   Sonoramic radio

* F-7   G60-15 Super Wide Oval raised letter/chromed wheels

* H-6  Rallye Ride control package

* U-9  Gauge Cluster & Rally clock

* 3-N   Special paint – Saturn Yellow

432nd unit produced in 1970 invoiced 5/22/70

The G60-15 tires on styled wheels, heavy-duty suspension, and spoilers gave the GSX a real sense of all-around purpose, and all agreed that that this last hurrah of the high-compression GM era was much more than a stripped-down drag strip beast.

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DODGE Blog Features Wellborn Museum -redletterdodge.com

CLICK HERE to read about Tim's pre-release impressions of the 2011 Dodge Charger on the redletterdodge.com blog, with pictures of both new and old Chargers. The white 1969 Hemi Charger 500 shown is also in the museum's collection.