What makes this request even more unusual is that several years ago, I was contacted by a previous owner of this very car who wanted to find it! Unfortunately, I lost the contact information for the previous owner. I am hoping this post will make its way to him.

The car was sold new at Martin Rowell Ford in Key West, FL. The original Warranty Card shows EL Miller as the owner. However, the Owner’s Manual shows a handwritten entry for Roger L. Hurt. If you know one of these individuals or their family members, please show them this post and have them reach out to the seller. His information is provided below.

The current owner of this rare original/survivor Talladega has decided it is time to part with his pride and joy. I am in no way connected with the sale of this car other than posting the following description and photos provided by the owner. If a rare original/survivor Talladega for sale isn’t enough, he also has a Tunnel Port 427 available. This engine is NOT in the car; it is a standalone item and is also for sale. The Talladega still has its numbers matching engine.

The car was sold new out of Martin Rowe Ford in Key West FL, and then, in 1970, it went off to Southern California, where it has been ever since. The current owner purchased it from the San Diego Auto Museum in 2006. The current owner has personally added only 400 miles during his ownership. It has been safely protected in private storage during his ownership.

A large amount of original documentation and original parts go with the car. I am attaching several photos provided by the seller. The car is mostly factory original but has some typical blemishes and chips, as well as a (Cyclone spoiler?) spoiler on the trunk.

As with any large purchase, you are encouraged to look at this car in person. I have not seen it myself, and I did not take the pictures. If you are interested in knowing more about the rare car, please call or text the owner directly at (951) 400-1962. Ask for John.

To contact the seller, call, text, or email: (951) 400-1962 / Johnthom.0062@gmail.com

The picture below shows the original clear plastic cover, which has protected the rear seat, presumably since new.

The Circus that is NASCAR is a huge production. There are far more happenings than what the TV will show you. Spend the money and get pit passes. Don’t go just for the big race. See them all, go every day if it is a 3 day eve4nt. You will not be disappointed. There are so many things going on, you will be shocked. The Fan Zone, with its entertainment and vendor trucks, is a shopper’s delight. There are also autograph sessions with many drivers.

The big show arrived at Nashville for the 2026 Cracker Barrel 400 with vintage race cars, country singers, and a little rain. Well, sometime is was a lot more than a little rain. However, it did not put a damper on the crowd, the racers, or the cars. After 4+ days in the infield and garage area, I was beyond tired when I got home Sunday night. I don’t know how these pit crews and drivers do this week in and week out.

I am offering up a few of my unstaged photos from all 4 days. Not only was I there to have fun and enjoy the festivities, but our 1969 Ford Talladega was invited to participate as a factory street version of the vintage race car that won David Pearson the 1969 NASCAR Championship! It is also the only Ford Richard Petty ever raced! In this knowledgeable race crowd, there was no shortage of enthusiasts who knew exactly what it was. There were those younger folks who had never seen a Ford Talladega in person before!

Here is a small portion of my photo collection from the weekend. Excuse me if there is a preference for the Wood Brothers or Penske and their respective Fords.

Come back, there are more images to come.

Here are a few photos from Thursday, load-in day. Trucks will be racing Friday night, O Riely cars Saturday night, and the NASCAR Cup cars on Sunday night. I will be tired on Monday!

I am dreaming of what could have been. Note the Talladega in the background!

It fit so well, I wanted to steal it and head for the track!

We didn’t have to wait in line. Escorted entry sped things up a lot.

Terry Labonte Olds

David Pearson tribute car.

Terry Labonte Olds

This in not a paid for advertisement. It is simply my exerience and opinion on a producr I purchased and recomment. Your experience may vary from mine.

If you are like a lot of classic car collectors who seriously show their pride and joy, you have likely been very frustrated and irritated since COVID. As you likely know, when you are showing your car at shows that use “real Judges,” not just someone who owns an old car, judging is a very serious process. It can take 20 minutes per car if they are truly serious, or it might take hours in a concours or preservation classes. Among other things, in such classes you MUST have an original battery to the car or at least a high quality, authentic reproduction. When we show, regardless of the show, we want our cars to be as close to 100 points as we can realistically achieve. Having an authentic reproduction battery is mandatory.

Over the past few years, we have spent over a $1,000 trying to find, obtain, and use such a battery in all our top show cars. This had become an extremely difficult and beyond irritating effort. It made no difference if you were looking for a proper battery for a Ford, GM, or MOPAR vehicle. However, I think we have turned the corner, and we might possibly be headed in the right direction again.

We are not endorsing or criticizing any battery manufacturer or retail seller. Pre-COVID, I had purchased numerous reproduction batteries without a problem. The supply may have been limited at times, but for the most part, it was a clean, clear supply chain. When that dried up, and no appropriate vintage car batteries were available, there were only two options that I saw. The first was to buy a modern battery or try to rebuild an older “dead” vintage reproduction. I first went for the rebuild. It is not something I could do, and I don’t recommend it. My mechanic took on the challenge, and it looked great, but didn’t work well. It was expensive, but it just didn’t have the cranking or lasting power required to turn over a high performance big block. (There is a third option: change out a standard modern battery for a dead original at the show. This will work for a lesser show, but at the big shows where the Judges mechanically check all electronics and ask you to start the car, this will not work.) The second choice is to simply use a modern battery. This will work, but it will also cost you valuable points during judging. In highly competitive shows and classes, this is unacceptable. There was no good solution.

During this time, I kept in touch with my preferred vintage battery supplier, Battery Central https://batterycentralmall.com/. Over a several year time frame, I am sure my pestering emails about “When will you have the battery I need?” got under their skin. I was just one of hundreds of similar calls and emails from other car enthusiasts. In spite of my frustration, Wayne Cunningham kept his cool and assured me that the proper batteries were coming. Although the delivery schedule continued to slide, much to my and his dismay, my much needed battery arrived this week just as he had promised!

The battery is beautiful, and fired my big block MOPAR better than any other in years! However, there was one more surprise. Wayne had included two sheets of paper with instructions. The first explained what kind of battery charger should be used and why. The second went into detail about the charging process to keep your battery healthy for a long time. The first battery I got from him years ago had a life span of 7 years! I have included a copy of his instruction sheet on how to properly charge your new vintage battery.

What is the biggest surprise? These new batteries seem to be of a higher quality than the previous ones and COST LESS! If you have not been able to locate the vintage battery you need for your car, give Battery Central Mall a try.

Don’t be a Car Idiot!

Dad’s 1959 Rambler was similar to this picture.

This is an anonymous story on “The Most Idiotic thing I ever did With a Car, To a Car or In a Car!”  Send in your “Idiotic Car Story” NOW.

I am not an angel, but street racing is for punks.

Today, I have nothing but the highest disdain for the idiots who street race or participate in street takeovers. I don’t mean the old stoplight to stoplight stuff we did as kids. Likely, this was most often done from a rolling start and lasted a very short distance. When it was done, it was often in remote areas without houses or people nearby. Unfortunately, today it happens in front of elementary schools or in industrial parks with rows of young spectators. Or even more commonly on crowded freeways and interstate highways. You have seen them; for some reason, it usually seems to be a newer Dodge Charger or Challenger. However, there are also the smaller foreign hot rods that rush past on either side at double the speed limit, and cutting in and out of traffic like everyone else is simply an orange pylon cone to navigate as fast as possible.

I will admit to being guilty of some stupid actions in my youth. However, today I know what can happen. Many years ago, I lost a very young and very close relative to a horrific auto accident that claimed the lives of several teenagers, and I have also seen friends scarred (physically and emotionally) for life from stupid actions in a car. Although I have witnessed terrible crashes and have come close, I have never been involved. With all that said, I was an idiot in high school and would often street race down narrow alleys in the dark, speed around city streets, and charge blindly through intersections. Although I had my own car, on special date nights I would get the family car. It was a red 1959 Rambler. What it missed in horsepower it made up for in smallness and good cornering.

On one Friday night back in 1964, a friend had his parents’ 1964 Ford Galaxy 2-door with a 390. I had a special date and my parents’ 1959 six cylinder Rambler. In those days, I liked to play cat and mouse more than drag race. (Remember, it was a six cylinder automatic Rambler; trying to drag race anyone would have truly been idiotic.) In cat and mouse, you chase a friend and try to catch him, or he chases you, and you try to lose him. This was real TV type stuff, except no film crew to clear the streets for you. As I said, I was a real idiot.

Not only were such actions dangerous, but what was I thinking, a six cylinder Rambler against a 390 Ford? This should not have been a race at all. That big block torque should have eaten me up. However, I was the rabbit being chased by the big dog, so I got to set the path.

The 1964 Ford Galaxy chasing me was like this, but with a turquoise and white top.

On the straights that Ford could haul, but I would dust it off in the turns. So, I planned to turn at EVERY possible corner, the sharper the better, and the narrower the road, the better, so I mostly went down alleys. Every time we got on a stretch of straight, he was on my rear bumper.

I began to turn at every alley and looked for the narrowest ones I could find. I began to pull away. Suddenly, there were no headlights in my mirror. My thoughts were typical youthful optimism: “Wow, I am good! Can’t believe I got away from that new Galaxy with a 390.”

I figured I had some bragging to do!

Unfortunately, on Monday at school, I heard the rest of the story. It seemed that as I, the “mouse“, made my getaway from the “Galaxy cat“, he got caught by the “black and white dog“! The Sheriff had spotted us and nailed the Galaxy. The “man” with the badge asked the Galaxy driver who he was chasing. With some “man in uniform” coaxing and a promise of getting only a warning ticket, he gave me up. When I heard that, I knew I was in trouble, big trouble. I wasn’t worried about the ticket as much as what my dad would do. I was sure my dad would not get a call right away. This wasn’t the first time I had been in this predicament. The police knew that for most of us, teenage idiots waiting was the worst part, so it would be a few days before Dad would get THE call.

Are you like me, the waiting is the worst. I just couldn’t stand waiting for the call to come, so I could get my punishment. I waited and waited, but no call; every night when I got home from school, I was waiting for the TALK. A week passed, and then two. It had never taken this long before. The call never came!

Then I figured it out. We lived in a small town, and there were only two other families in town with the same last name. I am sure the wrong father got the call! How cool is that?

I actually got away with that one, but not all of them. More on that on another day. There were the nights of leaning to drift in fresh snow, the night by a buddy’s girlfriend got ejected from the car during a fast getaway and sharp turn (no seatbelts in those days), and there was the night I lost a hubcap during a high-speed maneuver; my dad did get a call on that one!

It was our pleasure and challenge to attend the 2026 Mustang Club of America’s first National Show of 2026. The weather was very strange. For those from up North, Friday, the first day of the Show, was fabulous but just a little too hot for some. It was the first day of judging, so the early birds had a hot, sunny day that crept into the high 80’s. The biggest issue of the day was all the yellow pollen. It covered everything. Judges announced that they would not count off for this distraction. It was impossible to keep as clean as usually required for Judging.

For those showing up on Saturday, and there were lots of them, the temperature never got out of the 60’s, and the wind chill made it feel even worse than that. The pollen remained a problem and may have even gotten worse. Sunday was not much better, with most of us hiding out in the host JTech building to keep warm.

Although there were some significant issues/delays entering the show grounds early Friday and other issues with participants leaving early, overall it was a great show. All the hard working volunteers, including the judges, were terrific.The food trucks actually had wonderful food at reasonable prices.

As usual, some show newcomers arrived without a clue of what was expected on the show field. National Shows are not like your local shows put on by the local Kiwanis Club. These newbies were in for a rude awakening, they just did not know what to expect. Their cars were beautiful, but they did not know how tough judging can be. Some of more experienced show folks even learn something new at most shows. We and other veterans also try to lend a hand and offer up some suggestion. Unfortunately there are always those veterans and beginners who believe they know it all. These folks generally went home with a disappointing Silver Award. This is a process that most of us have experienced at one time or another before we learned how to really get a car ready for Judging at the National level.

The photos shown here represent just a small portion of the high quality cars that were in attendance. We were fortunate enough to receive a Gold Award and received 2 more points on our way to the 20 needed for a Red Medallion.

If you are not sure about what class your car should be in, just go to the MCA website (https://mustang.org/) and do a little research. You will probably find that your car might fit into more than one Class. Make sure you pick the one that works best for you.

My wife and I were shocked at how nice the Concours cars were. Unfortunately, a Boss 9 that was restored with all NOS date code correct parts was damaged on the way to the show. As at most shows, any damage that occurs on the way to the show or at the show will not results in points being deducted.

There are more shows to be held around the Country this year. If you own or love Mustangs, join the Club and attend a show in your local area and then try one of the National Shows. Mustang and Ford folks are some of the best people we have ever met at any show.

We had been to this particular show (none of the photos in this article are from that show) a year earlier with a different Best in Show winning car. We unfortunately had a very strange and disappointing experience with that car at the show. This time, we decided to take the Talladega since it had just been refreshed and was running great.

Before this trip, I was unsure if someone or someplace could be cursed. I did not believe that I had ever experienced any such visits from ghosts, or had a spell, curse, or other negative, unnatural experience.

Are you a believer? If not, consider the following. After this trip, I am a believer. However, I have learned to believe that if you bought a car that seemed to be a “lemon”, one that always seems to have mechanical troubles or is a magnet for getting into accidents, you must get rid of it. It will continue to be a problem and get worse. I only owned one such vehicle, but I finally got smart and sent it to the junkyard after it was hit multiple times while sitting still, it was stolen, wrecked, and the insurance company totaled it!

Well, let me tell you about a place and show I will never return to. We will never return to within 100 miles of this location.

Last year, we attended a nationally recognised, prestigious show, and as soon as we arrived, everything seemed to go wrong. I will not go into all the details, but when we got home, we had to do a $12,000 engine rebuild! At the same show this year, things started even worse.

First off, the host hotel for this show did not have us booked for the right week. This could have been a major problem, but after a conversation with the manager, the Front Desk clerk was able to find us a room for our stay. The room was not as good as the one we thought we had reserved, but at least we had a room. Next up, the TV in the room only wanted to work on its schedule. I could turn it on, but not select the channel we wanted; it just stayed on the one it selected. Then it would, at its pleasure, work fine without us doing anything. It continued this way for our entire 4 day stay. Next up, the night light in the bathroom would not work. So far, these were minor annoyances and not major issues.

The next morning, my electric shaver would not work. It somehow got turned on, and the battery was dead. This has never happened before in 50 years! The hotel’s heat thermostat would not work. No matter where we set the temperature, it did not agree. It would not take the temperature we wanted. It would be either much too hot or too cold. Now, I should add, this was not some Motel 6, it was a name brand 5 Star, high end resort.

Ok, we are at a car show, and all that’s important is that the car does well and we enjoy the event and meet some new friends. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Now things really started going downhill! The Talladega has always been one of our most dependable and easy to drive show cars. We had just gone through it, put in a new battery, and had all the electronics checked.

We unloaded the car and drove to the showgrounds. As soon as we arrived, the car overheated and died. We had to be pushed into our show spot. After cooling down, the car still refused to fire. At that point, we also noticed that some little electrical issues were showing up. That was really bad because at this particular show, the cars are judged not only for authenticity and condition, but also mechanically; everything must work. We now had a car that would not start, plus the running lights would not come on, the heater and defroster would not blow, the cigarette lighter would not light, and I lost track after that. Obviously, the Talladega did not do well. As a side note, the Judges were some of the worst I have ever encountered. I am not blaming them for the car’s poor performance; they simply did not know how to judge. Their Team Leader obviously had not instructed them on how and what to look for.

Fast forward, the show was over, and it was time to leave. Opps, remember, earlier in the day, the car would not start to reach its show field location and would not start for the judges?

The problem now was how to get the car off the show field. We were told it had to leave the same way it got on the show field. Well, that meant we needed some big time help to push it back to the hote” The problem? No tow vehicles were allowed on the manicured “golf course” show field. I was about ready to cry!. We decided to give it one more try. Well, it fired right up! What changed? It knew we were leaving! Was the car trying to tell us something?

We loaded up the car in the trailer and went back to the hotel, scratching our heads, wondering what had just happened to us. At this point, we were beyond depressed.

We got a good night’s sleep, even without control of the heat or TV and without a nightlight!

The next morning, we hooked up the trailer and headed for Tennessee. Our F350 has never given us a minute’s worth of trouble or concern since the day we drove it off the dealer’s lot. You guessed it, as soon as we headed out of town, our electric mirrors decided they did not like their current settings and moved to new ones. I could not get them to function correctly. I could not adjust them. Not only that, but the memory in our seats kept moving to whatever position they wanted, regardless of our desires. It was at this point that I was just about to give in to some black mystery dark power that seemed to now be in control. I would just sell everything once we were safely home!

We finally got out of the show city traffic, but before we could get completely out of town and off the two lane roads, the truck’s GPS and the truck’s video screen went completely blank! We had no GPS directions and no map on the screen. This has never happened before! Not once since we bought the truck new 8 years ago! What the hell is going on? A few minutes later, all came back on. Wow, that was strange, but a relief to have it back.

At this point, I also got back control of our electric mirrors!

I was starting to get excited, but a few miles down the interstate, everything went out again! Now, I was getting pissed. This was going to be a very expensive repair.

Erica! We were now many miles from the show field and show city, and the GPS and video screen magically came back to life!

For the rest of the 10 hour drive, I was a nervous wreck waiting for something else to go bad or break.

Nothing more happened. At the time of this writing, it has now been many months, and there has never been one hint of any problems with the truck, its GPS, video screen, mirrors, or anything else.

I don’t want to say we were jinxed when in that particular city or show. However, strange events like this two years in a row should give a warning. We will never go close to this show or city again!

Previously, we told you about one of our cars that has a special place in our garage and in our hearts. It’s a 2007 Saleen Mustang Parnelli Jones Signature Edition. I highly recommend that you read that article before you continue with this one. This PJ Saleen, which remains in our collection, is one of our favorite cars to take out on a cruise. It has now been joined by a 2008 Dan Gurney Signature Edition. 500 of the Parnelli signature editions were built. Many fewer Gurney cars were produced. Unofficial numbers state 45 blue cars, 19 white, and 4 red cars were built with a total build of only 68! When asked about what he wanted in the car, he stated he wanted his car to be faster than Parnelli’s, so it got far more horsepower with a supercharged 465 HP!

With the help and guidance of Dan Gurney (If you don’t know who Dan Gurney is, you should check out his Bio.) Dan himself was deeply involved with suspension and engine modifications. For his guidance, he received production car  #1. All Dan Gurney Saleens receive a production run number proudly located on the driver’s side front bumper.

The Dan Gurney Signature Edition Mustang had numerous styling and performance upgrades. A partial list includes:

• Supercharged 465 HP engine
• 5 speed manual transmission
• 3.73.1 Max Grip rearend
• Short throw shifter
• Special Race Craft Suspension
• Generation II Watts’s Link rear suspension
• 19” Perelli Corsa tires
• Gurney Edition 19” Spoke Alloy Wheels
• Gurney Edition custom Leather Sport Seats
• Saleen Custom front grill and Air Dam
• Rear “Duck Bill” spoiler
• And, much more!

Dan Gurney was a very special man and a highly skilled driver. He won numerous times on NASCAR road courses with the Wood Brothers #121. He drove many different kinds of race cars and won in them all. He was also an engineer and motorsport executive who competed in Formula One as well as most other forms of auto racing. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motor sports. As just a superficial greatly abbreviated overview of his accomplishments, Gurney won four Formula One Grand Prix races across 11 seasons; He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 with Ford (with AJ Foyt as his codriver); he won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1959 with Ferrari; he twice finished second in the Indy 500; he won in Indy cars of his own design; he won in IMSA; he created ARR (All American Racing); at one time he was in partnership with Carroll Shelby; and so much more.

Dan Gurney in his Indy Car

The Dan Gurney Mustang shown here is # 48 (A race number often used by and associated with Dan Gurney.) This car was purchased new by Michael Oatis Chandler, who raced Indy cars. He raced at Indy several times. Chandler was a young and upcoming IndyCar driver when, in 1984, he had a horrific accident during practice for the 500. The accident nearly took his life, but did end his promising racing career. When he heard about the Saleen Dan Gurney Signature Edition, he knew he had to have one, and #48 was his selection.

He retained the car for almost 4 years in Oregon. The second owner, in Arizona, held the car for just over 13 years, while the third owner, also in Arizona, owned it for only 2 months. Current mileage on the car is less than 1,300 miles.

Michael Chandler, original owner

Here is a link to an excellent video that will fill you in on what you need to know. Click Here.

I don’t have a hotline to Santa Claus, so I can’t help you get a concours Talladega placed under your tree. I can’t even put a good word in your wife’s ear about your request. You can’t simply log into Amazon and have a Talladega delivered to you the next day. No one is making reproductions of these great cars, and there are fewer and fewer being discovered. There are likely fewer in existence in any condition than the number of car guys and gals that want one.

I don’t know of any secret to finding these rare vehicles. It is all about word of mouth and persistence. Many of the cars that do change hands go from one friend to another. I also do the TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com. It is a tight group of Ford Aero Car enthusiasts and friends who collect and treasure these exceptional cars. This group is a tight “family.” Many of these cars sell between members without anyone else even knowing the car was available.

I recently sold one of our Dan Gurney Spoiler (If you don’t know about these cars either, here is a link to a terrific video on them, Click Here. That car was in exceptional condition and had very rare and desirable options. My wife and I had planned to restore it for our own use, but like so many of us, it just did not look like it was going to happen anytime soon. The decision was made, we wanted to sell it but not to just anyone. We wanted it to go to someone we knew, and we wanted to make sure it would be restored and loved, not just flipped for more money.

This was over a couple of years, but one day a friend came to visit from out of State, and it just so happened he was looking for a Dan Gurney Spoiler.

Within days, it was sold to him, and I was on my way to deliver it. We were both happy, and the car will soon be back on the road. It is seldom this easy, but the last two Aero Cars I have sold happened this way.

What is more common is that I get a call or email asking if I know of any Talladegas or Spoiler/Spoiler II cars for sale. Very seldom do I have a positive response to these inquiries. However, recently, there have been a couple of cars that I have become aware of.

If you are looking, I will give you a hint. Regularly check our “Cars For Sale and Sold” page. Not only can you find what we have found for sale, but you can also look up what similar cars have sold for over the past 10 plus years!

If you contact me and tell me what you are looking for and what price range you want to be in, its possible I might know of a private sale.. Of course, if you are looking to sell a car, you can contact me to see if I am interested or if I know of someone looking.

It is not uncommon for me to know of individuals looking for the car their dad once owned or one they sold and want back. That is all part of what the Registry is all about. We want to see cars discovered, saved, and land in the right people’s hands! If you have never considered one of the Ford Aero Cars for your collection, you should do so. There are, as of today, two Talladegas for sale that I know of. You can check them out by clicking here.

In 2023, our friend, Marty Burke put together the Ford Fairlane exhibit at MCACN, something he has done for many years. In 2023, his invited picks were all very special and extremely high quality. The theme of the exhibit was “Better Idea, Big Blocks”. This harkens back to the old Ford advertising featuring a light bulb and the phrase “Ford has a better idea”.

Gary and Corrie Baker 1968 Montego R Code, 1 0f 1

Richard and Katrina Fleener 1969 Ford Talladega First Regular Production

There was one car that got a lot of extra attention; it was a special unveiling and is owned by an actor new to the car collecting community. From the quality of the restoration and his reaction to all of the Ford crowd, he will likely become a “car guy”. David Sullivan has done several TV shows and movies, but it was his 1968 428 1/2 GT that was the star of this show. The car was bought new by his father, who street raced it and earned a great reputation. Unfortunately, the car was eventually destined to be stored outside in a field with the expected results: rust, lots of rust. Before David’s dad passed away, he asked David to care for his Fairlane. He promised to do so, but it took some time to arrive at a place in his life where he had the resources to do so. With the assistance of Marty Burke, David found and selected Jason Billups, Billups Classic Cars, to do the restoration. It was an extremely difficult process that was completed only days before MCACM 2023. The car received a well deserved GOLD and other recognitions at the show.

Speaking of awards, virtually every car in our Ford group received a Gold or Special Award at this show or had received one previously at MCACM. I would suggest our group had the highest or one of the highest percentages of cars receiving recognition at the 2023 show.

There were a lot of other terrific Ford products at the show, ranging from Ford GTs to Mustangs and more. We will show you a few of those in upcoming Posts.

Here is one Talladega that was not at the show, but its owner was. TV personality and true car guy and collector, Wayne Carni, stopped by our exhibit to see the Talladegas on display. Wayne told me he is a big fan of the Talladega and owns a very special, highly modified version. He proudly showed me a photo! I would be proud as well if I owned this Big T.

1938 Lincoln K Twelve Touring Coupe

1948 MG

1934 Ford

1933 American Austin Coupe

Steam 1925 Dobb

1936 Hupmobile

1923 Renault

1915 Ford

1930 Ford

1956 Packard Carribean

1952 Hudson

1948 Tucker

This is an optical illusion; there are three headlights, but the driver’s side is hidden behind the center light. This makes the hood look like it is crooked.

1946 VW

Early Turn Signal

1935 Cadillac

1937 Cord

1928 Lincoln

1937 Pierce Arrow and 1936 Pierce Arrow Travel Trailer

Located in Sylmar, California (near Los Angeles), the Nethercutt Collection is one of the best in the World and is absolutely FREE! In fact, it isn’t just one car museum, it is two, and it is not just a car museum. The Nethercutt Collection is housed in a beautiful building located on one side of Bledsoe Street, and the San Sylmar Collection is on the other.

The Nethercutt Collection is primarily composed of cars from the early 1900s to the 1950s. In contrast, the Sylmar Collection showcases the best of the collection, but the largest portion is dedicated to musical instruments and car ornaments.

When we visited San Sylmar (no photos of this collection are included on this page), we went to see the cars but came away talking about the organs that were played for us. This collection is only available for tours, and a reservation is required. The main display area contains the most beautiful cars you will see anywhere, and the room is even more magnificent than the cars. It resembles a high end hotel or office building out of the 1930’s with its marble floors and columns.

At the time of our visit, the Nethercutt Collection was open Tuesday through Saturday, and no reservations were required. Please check with them before your visit.

1931 Bugatti Type 51 Coupe

1937 Talbot Lago T150-C-SS, Sport Coupe

1912 De Dion-Bouton

1936 Duesenberg

1909 Gordon Brillie

Horse Drawn Fire Engine

1905 Franklin

1951 Bently

Rolls Royce

WATCH FOR PART TWO, WE WILL SHOW YOU MORE OF THIS TREMENDOUS COLLECTION!

Part 2

Our friends at MOPAR Connection Magazine (https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/)have a video you should watch if you’d like to see more. You might want to skip over the driving portion and jump right into the show cars.

It is not just the cars or even the people, but also the activities. There are clubs that like to have shows, others like to cruise back roads, some just like to meet up and eat out, others like to go fast activities and track days. When I was younger, my main interest was in speed competitions and making the car faster. Then, as kids came into the picture, it was more about the daily drive and trying to make a collector car practical. The next phase involved showing at the local level. That was followed by cruise ins. Now, it is mostly concourses and cruising.

The cruising is not just about the car, beautiful twisty back roads, but also the destinations and the people. We recently hosted one such Music City Mustang cruise. We did not participate in the cruise itself because we were the hosts of the destination! My wife and I have hosted such events in the past, including some three day events for the TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com, which I administer/own. This was a “garage visit” where we had the opportunity to show off our small collection of cars and tell about the interesting back stories on each one, noting why the car was important and why we chose to collect it. Although this was a Mustang Club and we have three Mustangs, our visitors were just as interested in our non-Mustangs as they were in our Club cars. That was not only surprising but also pleasing.

We also have a large collection of memorabilia, with each piece having some personal importance to us. The visit also included a time for questions and answers as well as an excuse to fire up some of the more rowdy cars. We live outside the city, so there is no issue with disturbing neighbors!

After a couple of hours of automobile camaraderie, we all jumped into our Mustangs and headed to a local BBQ restaurant for some excellent lunchtime eats. We are already thinking about doing this again next year and how we can step it up a bit. Maybe we can also motivate some other Club members to do a garage visit.

Photos are courtesy of Club Member Gary Allen….I was much too busy having fun to take pictures.

Race tracks all over America have vanished over recent decades. Some were simple, small town dirt tracks that held entertaining and competitive stock car races. I grew up attending one such track. Although I no longer live near it, I long for the memories it gave me as a car infatuated youth.

Long before I was old enough and able to travel cross country to attend professional big time races, I had a favorite track. It was an exotic road course with palm trees. Back in those days, auto racing often found its way into Hollywood movies. More often than not, the racetrack of choice was Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California. I was smitten with Southern California and the car culture it displayed. Those wild sports cars were captivating and nowhere to be found in my midwestern town. The track was Riverside Raceway

As time passed, I eventually moved to approximately 30 miles from the track and immediately purchased season tickets for all its events. Unfortunately, as soon as I moved there, it was announced that the track was sold to a shopping center developer and the track would soon be destroyed!

I was devastated. This was around 1985/1986. Its destruction was a slow process. I remember attending one of the last races where part of the track was already destroyed. The race was raced on a portion of what was left.

I have since attended NASCAR, IMSA, and Indy car events at many different tracks, but none have given me the nostalgia and thrill that Riverside provided. I have seen many of our NASCAR heroes race on the road course, and I even got an autograph from Harry Gant when I crashed one of his fan club events at the track.

Arguably, the king of the Riverside Raceway was Dan Gurney. He was all but unbeatable at the track. He was one of the best, most versatile race car drivers ever. But at Riverside, he dominated!

Back in the day, the NASCAR season did not begin with Daytona. The 1969 NASCAR Cup season officially began with the Georgia 500 on November 17, 1968, at Middle Georgia Raceway. The season also included a race on December 8th, the Alabama 200 at Montgomery (Ala.) Speedway. The Riverside 7th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500 was held on January 19, 1969. Obviously, this was right before the 1969 Ford Talladega was homologated. However, the 1968 and 1969 Torino/Fairlane were still kicking butt on the tracks before its arrival. By the next year the aero Ford Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, Dodge Daytona, and the Plymouth Superbird would join the track. The hero and favorite at Riverside Raceway was unarguably Dan Gurney. At the time, he was unknown to most Southern and East Coast race fans, but on the West Coast, he was “The Man”.

His accomplishments with all kinds of race cars, along with his engineering capabilities, would go on to make him known around the World and respected as a gentleman and a master of racing. This recognition and his abilities are some of the reasons Ford/Mercury celebrated him with the 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II Dan Gurney Special. Don’t forget, Dan was the co-driver with AJ Foyt to win the 1967 24 Hours of LeMans for Ford!

I was fortunate enough to meet Dan while I lived in Southern CA. We visited in his office at All American Racers. I was able to tour his trophy room, and he obliged me by signing a race helmet I had with me. He drove NASCAR stock cars for the Wood Brothers at Riverside with the number 121 while his teammate, Cale Yarbourgh, drove the number 21. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Of all the drivers and celebrities I have met over the years, Dan was by far the most impressive and friendly. He is one of my favorite drivers, and I can only imagine the thrill it would have been to witness one of my hero drivers race on my favorite track! Both are now gone, and both are greatly missed.

Dan was all but unbeatable at Riverside, and the track honored him in 1969 with an artistic rendering of him and his number 121 on the cover of the Official Program.

Things were very different in 1969. The following are excerpts from the official Riverside Raceway program for the year. Below are the results for the 1968 6th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500. You will see a lot of familiar names here as well as some from the West Coast that you likely never heard of. Also note that there were 44 entries!

Above is a list of 1969 track records by lap for the track. Note that all but one record for the race were set in 1968 (prior to the 69 race). If you look at the list of record holders, it contains very few different individuals. Only four, to be exact, and they all were terrific drivers.

The Judges were faced with selecting the best cars based only on design and color. Hoods and trunks were closed. The undercarriage was not judged. This had to be an extremely challenging and subjective process for the Judges. The Judges for the show are designers, most from local auto manufacturers. Our husband, and wife team did a great job of looking each car over and talking to the owners about their cars’ design and color.

The competition was strong, with each car having an outstanding design and sparkling color. It had to be a very difficult process for the Judges. However, they made their decision of first and second with a tie for second place.

The winner was an outstanding 1970 Ford Mustang in Grabber Blue. The second place tie went to our 1969 Dodge Daytona in “T7” Dark Bronze and a beautiful 1970 Dodge Challenger in Plum Crazy.

Photos of every car in the class are shown below.

First Place

Second Place

Second Place Tie

The Rest of the “Color” Class

Most of us likely remember her standing on the trunk of a Hurst Olds holding on to a gigantic Hurst Shifter. In 1969, she was just coming into the height of her fame. The article and photo below are taken from the 1969 Program for the 1969 Talladega 500 race. Her mother, who often traveled with her, made her sexy but always professional attire.

She is a real car gal. It has been well over 55 years since this photo was taken, making her a senior citizen like many of us. Her draw at any appearance remains significant.

This article expresses the excitement, enthusiasm, and confidence the Ford crowd seemed to possess for the outcome of this first battle of the Aero Wars. Next time, we will provide you with the Dodge perspective, which is quite different.

Next time, we will tell you what they had to say about the 1969 Dodge Daytona and its first appearance at a Superspeedway.

Unfortunately, there is little hope for the racing we loved to return or even again see good ole boy moonshine drivers showing their stuff on the racetrack. If all goes well, we might soon see those old race cars we loved so much up close and personal.

Renowned photographer and good friend Al Rogers always brings us news and images of great old cars in the center fold of Old Cars Weekly magazine. Today, he sent information that everyone on this site should be excited about. David Pearson is undoubtedly one of our heroes. Heck, Richard Petty has even referred to David as the best driver he ever raced. Even after David stopped driving and winning Championships in NASCAR, he still fed his racing bug. The video below is not only a lesson on David Pearson, but also a hint of some great news of future excitement.

Thank you, Al, for sharing, and keep us informed on the future of this new attraction.

Mustang Nationals “Wisker” 2025 Orlando

If you like to show your treasured classic car, you have likely experienced many different forms of judging. At local shows, we have been judged by 2 or 3 judges while waiting in line to enter the show field. This process takes at most two or three minutes. It includes peaking in the interior and under the hood, and a glance at the undercarriage. Seldom will the trunk be opened. This is often called “Drive-thru Judging”. It is more of a beauty contest than an actual evaluation of the condition, authenticity, or other standards set by the show. On the other extreme are the national shows and Concours that commonly take from 30 minutes to an hour or more to Judge your car. In either case, nerves often make the process less than pleasurable. However, at times, judging at the national shows gets so involved that it gets ridiculous. Such was the case at a recent show we attended.

First off, do not let any of this discourage you from showing your car. There are good Judges, there are fair Judges, and there are Judges who will help you improve your car. Some Judges will make you mad and make you want to never show again. Ignore those, and please don’t take any discouraging process too seriously. Try your best and detail your car as well as you can. Don’t get mad, learn, and improve. Like anything else worth doing, it will likely take you more than one attempt to be successful, but you will do better every time.

I have been showing cars since the 70s, at shows from local burger joints to highly respected concourses around the Country. At a recent National Mustang show, my wife and I had an experience that left us without words but left us laughing. It was a two day show with a choice of being Judged on Friday or Saturday. Regardless, the car had to be on display both days. The awards were on Sunday.

Katrina and I had our 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca Mustang spotless and wanted to be Judged as soon as possible, so we could kick back and enjoy the second day without worrying about keeping the car clean. We put out the sign that our car was ready to be Judged. We had negative Judging expectations based on comments made by others who had attended National Mustang shows. Within a few hours, our two person male and female team arrived to Judge our pride and joy. After a few words of instruction from the Judges, the process began. They were extremely thorough and took approximately half an hour to go over the car.

When they had tallied their results, they took us around the car and pointed out where we could have done better and where we lost points. Their comments will be very helpful for our next outing. Regardless of my comments here, our Judging team was fair and highly skilled. We respect them and their fairness. We will show a better car next time because of their comments.

However, there were some very detailed and unexpected problems that I had to hold back my laughter/disdain for until the Judges were far out of range. The first thing the female Judge pointed out was a small grey whisker on the carpet on the driver’s side. (see picture) I had cleaned this area twice, and Katrina went behind me and cleaned again. Somehow, a whisker from my beard (or the male Judge’s beard) managed to find its way into our otherwise immaculate interior. There was no deduction for this, but we were told other Judges may not be so lenient! Judges will not open doors, so they asked me to open the doors. It was a hot, sunny Florida day. I had just applied suntan lotion. I did not have a microfiber towel handy, and my hand left a smudge on the door handle…ding, that was a point deduction! Other deductions received were for a little dust around the master cylinder cover and a water spot between the front fender and the inner fender. We also got a warning about a small water spot on the back side of one of the rear wheels!

Katrina and I laughed and said if these are the worst things they can find on the car, we probably will be ok. We mentioned this to a couple of our neighboring show folks, and they decided they better go back over their cars! They chose to be judged on Saturday and spend Friday cleaning a little better!

On Sunday, the show put on a breakfast before the awards. We sat at a table with some folks we had not yet met at the show. At such times, the discussion will usually turn to what year is your car, and how it was Judging. Well, I started to tell the others at the table about our experience with the “whisker fiasco”. The fellow next to me immediately interrupted, saying that the story was all over the show field and likely was not true! I assured him it was true and I had the photo to prove it! The entire table was amazed that such a thing could actually happen.

With great anticipation, we sat through the entire awards ceremony since our Class was nearly the last one. We earned our GOLD Award despite the pesky whisker and hidden water spot! Katrina has suggested that I may need to shave before the next show! I assure you that my beautiful red headed wife has contributed far more long red hairs found on the carpet at past shows without being scorned.

Car show judging can be discouraging at times, but don’t let it keep you from entering your pride and joy! Judging at most shows is more about learning how to make your car better and less about your personal grooming skills! We also met a lot of great Mustang owners and will certainly be attending some more National Shows! Thanks go out to all the Mustang Club of America volunteers who planned and worked so hard to put on such a great show!

Our 2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca, with only 91 miles on the odometer, received a Gold Award for its first-ever show. We were lucky to be parked next to a gorgeous 1970 Boss 302 Mustang, which also received a Gold Award.

The Club sponsoring the show deserves praise for its well-run show and the high-quality cars it attracted. The Gallery of photos below is a fair representation of those attending and a few were for display only. I have included a link above for Dezerland. It is an unbelievable attraction for the Orlando area. It was formerly a large shopping center which has been converted into an entertainment center with a very large and diverse car museum. I will do a feature on it next and you will want to see some of those cars!

Here is what Steve Weber sent me.

“Richard, saw the article on Legendary Collector Cars about that white Nova, with the red white, and blue stripes, I was originally from Iowa. Also, I have the blue one with red, white and blue stripes, which I bought new in 1972, and I still have it. I just wanted to let you know there’s at least another one out there. That picture was taken in 1972, with one of them old Polaroid instant cameras. I was going to let you know too. As far as I know that striped package is only on 3 colors of blue Nova white Nova and a red Nova, I have seen a red one and the white 1. And everybody I talk to has not seen any other ones like them, just red, white and blue ones had the striped package. Thanks again and you take care“

Here is Steve’s special Nova. Does anyone else out there still have one?

This is the article on our website that Steve is referring to. This is the “All American Edition” Nova. The article also explains the “1976 Spirit of America Edition” which is often confused with the 1972 All Ameican Edition.

Art of the Muscle Car; The photo shoot.

It all started when I received a phone call from a representative of Motorbooks about photographing some of our cars for a new muscle car book they were publishing. We have had cars photographed by them before and used on a calendar and some shots in a book; we also have had magazine and TV photo shoots. They are always interesting and also stressful. I am always afraid that some minor flaw I have missed will show up like a dent the size of a soccer ball!

David Newhardt did the text but it was Peter Harholdt (www.peterharholdt.com) who added the art! He did the photography. If you are familiar with the book, Art of the Hot Rod you will know that the muscle car book is also terrific!

Peter and his assistant showed up to shoot three of our cars and I was blown away with his portable photo studio. To this day I have never seen anything comparable. It took an hour or so to set up and another hour to stow away when he was done but the results were outstanding. I have included a few of my shots from the day so you can see the behind the scenes activities.

They erected their portable photo room in our driveway in late fall with leaves falling all around.

Peter showed me the digital images of what he did that day and I was amazed at the quality of his work. He focused on the light and reflections to achieve images you would otherwise never see.

Peter Harholdt is also a car guy and a full on artist. Go to his web page (www.peterharholdt.com) and check out his bio. Racecar driver, artist’ and more!

His self designed portable photo studio is contained in a 5^th wheel trailer. I have seen the photo guys at car shows take your car’s picture and frame it for you before you leave. For the most part, they are photographers but not artists. I have experienced outdoor photo shoots with stills, action, and video. I am always impressed with the quality of the images of these professionals, but Peter’s work transcends the ordinary car photo and turns it into real art. He is an artist and he gets to see some of the best cars in the Country. How
cool is that?

All of the photos appearing in the book were shot in this same contraption in driveways and garages all over the Country!

We are beyond honored to have three of our cars included in this masterpiece.

To see more of the finished work and photos, Click Here!

Just as I was ready to hook up the trailer and head out to look at a good prospect in Iowa, one that we had our eye on but sold came back on the market. Some quick phone calls and emails with detailed photos suggested this was one we wanted. The price was a bit higher than we wanted to pay but it only had 80 original miles! We had agreed on getting a car with more miles but purchasing a virtually new car for the price of a well used version was just too good to pass up. The seller and I agreed to a price, subject to my inspection when I showed up to take delivery.

We are in Tennessee and the LS was in North Carolina. It took a couple of days to get my schedule rearranged and I was off. It was less than a day’s drive so I was able to inspect the car and agree it was all it was represented to be and it was a deal. We agreed I would return early the next day take the seller to a branch of our bank and close the deal.

I honestly had a difficult time sleeping in the motel that night, I wanted it in my trailer ASAP but I knew it was safer in his garage than in my trailer for the night. Early the next morning I took it for a test drive and afterward, we headed to the bank. The Boss was loaded and off we were, back to TN.

The car, with its unusual paint scheme, may not be for everyone but we find it perfect. It represents what it is, a race car for the street. Parnelli Jones was also involved with Ford’s development of the car. When he tested the LS production test vehicles at the Laguna Seca race track he also had his Championship winning Boss 302 1970 Mustang race car to compare it to. He actually turned faster laps in the 2012 Laguna Seca street car than in his original 1970 Trans Am Mustang race car!

Because the car had so few miles and is a future very collectible vehicle I decided I was going to fully document the markings and stickers on the car. Today, show cars, and concourse cars are often documented with reproduction factory markings and stickers. These are often difficult to document and reproduce. I hope that by taking these photos I might help some future show judges and owners correctly duplicate what Ford was doing in 2012. I have included a few of these photos to show the variety of marking types and where they were used. I was shocked at the number of them and where some were located. These examples far exceed what you will find on cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Our immediate plans are to detail the car slightly, drive it very little, and show it for a year or so. It will then be used moderately. It will never be a daily driver (none of our collector cars are, but all are driven) but it was designed to be a track car so a little street use will be good for it. In my younger days, it would be seeing a few track days but today, I don’t think it is best for me or the car.