We try to check out car museums when ever and where ever we find them. The smaller ones are often little more than a few poorly restored oddball cars displayed in a dusty environment. When we visit the bigger and better venues it is a real treat.

A new museum will be opening after January 1, 2010 in Alexander City, Alabama. It is the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum and we had an opportunity to get a preview while we were attending the 40th Anniversary of the NASCAR Aero Car Reunion at the Talladega Speedway put on by the Daytona Superbird Auto Club.

I have to honestly say this is one of the best museums I have ever visited. My feelings may have something to do with my preference for muscle cars or the fact that we were already having a wonderful time at the Reunion. Regardless, the Wellborns have hit a home run with their Museum.

It is almost like a 1969-70 time capsule. The Wellborns started with an old Chevrolet dealership and converted it into a wonderful museum. It is chucked full of expertly restored muscle cars (not all Dodges and Plymouths but that is where the emphasis was for this weekend). They have also included a wealth of auto related neon signs and memorabilia. The mind blower is the Parts Room that is full of NOS parts from “back in the day”.

If you are ever close to Talladega, Alabama make sure you detour over to Alexander City to see this wonderful automotive experience. Until then Click Here and see our tour!

If you prefer to take a quick video tour you can click on the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: aero car, challenger, charger, cuda, Dodge Daytona, hemi, NASCAR, pluyouth superbird, wellborn muscle car museum

Click Here to see more.

Technorati Tags: Dodge Daytona, ford talladega, halloween party, plymouth superbird, wellborn muscle car museum

We all have that dream of finding the rare winged Dodge Daytona in a barn covered in dust but otherwise prisitne. It may be just like one we saw fishtail away from a stop light in a street race late one night when we were out cruiseing with a bunch of buddies or it may be one we lusted over in a new car show room many years ago. For most of us this is simply a dream that will never be fullfilled. For others the impossible does happen.

Katrina did not find her dream in a barn but she did find it in a motel parking lot in Alexander City Alabama. It was the very same and very rare 1969 Dodge Daytona she once owned and restored. To read the complete amazing story CLICK HERE.

When Tim and Pam Wellborn invite car folks over for a visit they know how to do it right! During the 2009 Aero Car Reunion these Mopar collectors made even us humble Ford collectors feel special. The Wellborn Estate, known as Russwood, is a treasure in its own right but when you add some of Tim and Pam’s cars along with all the visiting Aero Cars it is truly a place like no other.

We started early in the afternoon and went well into the evening for our first day of the Reunion. There were wonderful cars parked all over the grounds of Russwood as well as the multiple garages of cars belonging to the Wellborns. There was a tour of their home, the garages, freedom to explore the acres of landscape and a constant flow of arriving Aero Car owners and their wonderful machines. If you would like to see more on this day’s events just Click Here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Charger 500, Dodge Daytona, ford talladega, mercury cycone, plymouth superbird, Road Runner, russwood, Spoiler, tim wellborn

Can you imagine pulling into your local Sonic drive-in and finding a row of 1969/70 aero muscle cars sitting there? How about two 1969 Dodge Daytons, a 1969 Dodge 500, a 1969 Ford Talladega and a 1970 Plymouth Superbird all in a row plus multiple more Daytonas, Superbirds, and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler IIs scattered around? Well, that is just what happened last week in Alexander City Alabama when we all pulled into town for the Daytona Superbird Auto Club Aero Car Annual Reunion.

This picture is before the official meet, we were just cruising and hanging out like it was Saturday night with the guys or your best girl in 1969.

Over the next week we will be posting more photos and stories of this wonderful event. To read the first installment, The Arrival; Click Here.

Technorati Tags: alexander city, Dodge Daytona, ford talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, plymouth superbird

Katrina and I just returned from four fabulous days of playing with our Ford Talladega and a bunch of terrific Mopar and Blue Oval folks at Talladega! We have a long list of stories to tell and nearly a 1,000 photos plus videos to sort through.

We will be posting stories, Feature Cars and more over the next few weeks.

I am not sure how many of these vintage Winged Warriors from NASCAR’s Aero Wars days were at the event. There were different cars at each activity; some made it to all and others only went to one or two. At one point I counted well over 100 cars and more were still coming.

It appeared by my estimate that there were approximately 30 of the Ford products in attendance and possibly 100 Mopar products.

The owners of these cars are without a doubt some of the best car people around. It doesn’t matter if they have the most expensive Hemi Daytona or a street condition Mercury they are all genuinely nice car nuts. Best of all, most are not afraid to drive them.

We toured a couple of days from our host city of Alexander City Alabama to the Talladega Super Speedway. The site of all those winged Mopars and sloped nose fastback Fords was a unbelievable. It must have been a real once in a lifetime site for some of those small town folks living on our route based on some of the looks on their faces when we passed by!

Over the next few days and weeks we will bring you some great stories; the reunion of Katrina and a car she once owned; a reunion of a winged race car and a boy who watched it race nearly 40 years ago when he was only 10; photos of two Ford racing prototypes from 1970; a Talladega signature car once owned by Bill France; a preview of a wonderful new Mopar Museum opening after the first of the year and much, much more.

Thank you to all you regular readers of the site who took the time to come up and say hello. Katrina and I really appreciate it when you let us know how much you enjoy the site.

Ok, that’s me on the left and Katrina on the right…who is the clown in the middle? Tell you later.

Technorati Tags: Alexander City Alabama, Bill France, Dodge Daytona, DSCA, ford talladega, Ford Talldega, hemi, Mopar Museum, plymouth superbird, Super Speedway

There is data provided on every car and some historical information but the photos are what will make you drop to your knees, face Detroit and say a prayer of thanks. This isn’t some goofy guys idea of some cool cars. The author David Newhardt is a car guy and a photographer in his own right. Peter Harholdt is also a major car guy and a guru in the photography world. To see the portable photo booth he used to shoot these cars is a true treat. If all of that isn’t enough the Forward is written by Brock Yates, Mr. Cannonball himself.

There are Three Parts to the book; The Innocent Years; The Excessive Years and The Declining Years. Within these three parts there are 47 Chapters, each one devoted to a different make and model of Muscle Car. Within each chapter are multiple photos of each car including an image of each car that covers two entire pages!

If you only purchase one book this year, make it this one!

Click Here to read our complete review of the book.

Technorati Tags: art of the muscle car, Chevy, cyclone, david newhardt, dodge, Ford, hemi, Mercury, peter harholdt, ss, Talladega

We are off to the 40th Reunion of the NASCAR Aero cars this weekend at the Talladega Super Speedway. This reunion is only held once every five years at the Speedway. It is a great group of people who all love the Aero cars. Most don’t care if you own a Blue Oval or a Mopar, they just treasure the cars. This year the Club has put together a great series of events. As always, owners will be driving these rare cars not just showing them. There will be no judged show but they will be on display one day at the Speedway. There will also be a tour of a high quality Mopar car collection as well as a tour of the museum at the Speedway. A couple of NASCAR races are also on the schedule. The highlight of the weekend for many will be our Parade Lap of Talladega Speedway just prior to the NASCAR Sprint CUP Race on Sunday.

I am not sure how many cars will be there this year. Cars eligible for the Reunion are the winged 1969 Dodge Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Superbird, 1969 Dodge 500, 1969 Ford Torino and Talladega, 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler and Spoiler II.

We will be recording the entire Reunion in photos, audio and video. Highlights will be posted on this site in future weeks. There should be some terrific stuff for you to enjoy.

As for our Talladega, we got the final updates made this past weekend. This included changing out the Magnum 5oo wheels for some correct steel wheels and new BFG Radial TAs. Some updated photos of the car’s new (original) look are included below. To see the full process Click Here.

Technorati Tags: Aero Car Reunion, cyclone spoiler, daytona, Spoiler II, Superbird, Talladega, talladega superspeedway

Rat Rods continue to grow in popularity. They range from old beater 50’s machines in a combination of primer and rust to miscellaneous parts scavenged from a junk yard to make a vehicle for cheap. Others are highly engineered and mechanically advanced with suade paint jobs. Still others are pure rust buckets that are unsafe to drive.

Some of these cars are little more that 3D cartoons; one I remember is an outhouse on wheels (we have the photo). I am for this trend continuing and growing. In no way do I ever think it will replace the trailer queens, beautiful customs or restored muscle cars but this trend does fill a niche.

I provides a way for a guy or gal to build a car for little money and get into the hobby with a car that will be accepted at most shows. It also provides a way to build a highly engineered and professional ride that can be driven anywhere and still be safe. However, I do hope that builders abandon the very unsafe cars that I have witnessed at some events.

We have and will continue to post Rat Rod photos we see around at shows on our new Rat Rod page. Click Here.

If you have or are building a Rat Rod you would like to see on our site, email us some information and photos or your project. We will continue to post these on the site as space permits. Digital photos only, we will not return any hard copy photos mailed to us.

Let’s see what you’ve got!

Technorati Tags: Custom, hot rod, photo, rat rod

Katrina and I like doing things in our local community so today we braved the cold weather and a lot of well lubricated college students to drive the MTSU Homecoming Queen and the MTSU Blue Raiders Queen in the Homecoming Parade in our 1965 Thunderbird.

It is always fun to support such events and enjoy the youthful exuberance that we remember but do not share.

The two queens were lovely but we actually had three queens on board. I won’t say what year it was, that would not be gentlemanly. However, Katrina was the Homecoming Queen at her college, Fullerton State in Fullerton, California. The two MTSU queens were beautiful but I will keep my classic Katrina!

The Bird was also a big hit in the Parade. The most often asked question yelled from spectators was: “What year is it?” Of course, everyone should know it is a 1965.

Owning collector cars is much more fun when you drive them and take them out were others can enjoy them. I was shocked at how many of the college kids came up to the car while we were waiting for the parade to start and admired the car. Our bird is likely older than some of their parents! I guess it goes to show you that good classic design transcends the ages.

We were lined up behind this group of sorority and fraternity kids waiting to have a good time. The temperature at this time was around 48 degrees. We were complaining about having the top down and how cold it was; just look at the two guys without shirts!

My Queen, Katrina, jumped out of the car to take this picture of the car and MTSU Queens as we started towards the Parade route.

These kids were having a blast. I had the car in gear and idling the entire parade route and never took my foot off the brake! They were having way too much fun throwing candy to kids, stopping to cheer and otherwise keep warm and excited.

Technorati Tags: homecoming, middle tennessee state university, MTSU, parade, queens