CHAPTER 4:

MOPAR

DODGE, PLYMOUTH, AND IN SOME INSTANCES CHRYSLER vehicles—Mopar, as many call it—have a long and storied past within the confines of the muscle car life. Even before the start of what is known as the muscle car era with the 1964 Pontiac GTO, Mopar had a few cars that could easily fit into the small-body, big-engine category, such as the big 331 and 392 Hemi engines being put into the Chryslers at the time. Or in the early 1960s, the biggest, most powerful engines around, the Max Wedge 413 and 426 were between the fenders of the intermediate B-body platform cars. It wasn’t until the GTO threw down the gauntlet that things really took off, though.

Playing a little bit of catch-up, Mopar didn’t have a direct muscle car competitor. These brands had some cars that could be considered muscle cars, such as the 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury with 426 Wedge engines, or Dodge 330 Max Wedge. But they never took off like the GTO or Mustangs. It wasn’t until 1966 that the first true muscle car from Dodge came out in the form of the Dodge Charger. It was a Dodge Coronet for most of the body, but had a fastback rear window. Over at Plymouth, they had their Satellite lineup, which never had a fastback body. These were all great cars, but with their very boxy proportions, they didn’t set the sales floor on fire. But they made a name for themselves because they could be optioned with a very unique engine, which some called King Kong because of its awesome power: the 426 Hemi.

A few forlorn 1970s-era 'Cudas were found in a horse pasture. The vibrant AAR stripe can still be seen on this 1970 model.

In 1963, Mopar wanted an engine they could put in their cars and go dominate NASCAR, and they gave Tom Hoover the task of developing the engine. They looked through different design standpoints and settled on the hemispherical combustion chamber design that was similar to the style used on what is now known as first-generation Hemi engines from Mopar. His crew took the factory 426 Wedge engine block and adapted a new set of Hemi heads to the engine, creating one of the most feared engines of the muscle car era. It supposedly produced 425 brake horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque. That was downrated, just like all large muscle car engines at the time, to keep the insurance companies at bay.

The Hemi lived just as the muscle car did: a short and glorious life. It was available in a production car from 1966 through 1971. Few engines were able to keep up with the Hemi, including the Buick 455 Stage 1 cars and 454 LS6 engines from Chevrolet. The one thing they had going for them that the Hemi did not was a much simpler design of the rocker setup in the heads. The Hemis were expensive to produce and had a complex dual-rocker setup. They needed to be properly maintained to keep the Hemi happy, and if the Hemi struggled, the engine suffered. But they ran so well, they created a mystique all to themselves.

Way back in a friend’s backyard sat this Javelin. This one had run and been driven within the past few years, but since then it has just sat back along the fence. With mold growing on its flanks.

Someone needed a half a tail panel from this poor Javelin sitting way back in a Michigan junkyard.

A complete Rambler Marlin sits growing mold on a concrete pad in Wisconsin, waiting for the owner to return.

Tucked away safely in a Michigan barn, this Javelin AMX was the high school car of the owner, and so he slowly works on it, when time allows.

This original 1974 Javelin with 401 and four-speed that had been sitting in a garage in Illinois for years, pulled out and rescued just before this picture.

Another row of AMC products, including a few Javelins and even a Gremlin.

This poor Javelin was being used to keep another AMC product off the ground, which did this car no favors.

You never know what you might find, such as a row of AMC products and some early 80s Chrysler FWD vehicle. The Javelin on top of the yellow Javelin looks to have been someone’s fun car at one point.

I don’t know what’s worse, the original Levi’s Hornet on the bottom being crushed, or the Javelin with the rich patina sitting on top of it.

The Spirit AMX on top represented the end of the line for the AMX, while below is another 1970s Javelin.

A mid-1970s Javelin sits out in the yard in pretty good shape other than the windows not quite sealing the outside world from the interior.

Another Javelin SST sits on top of its brethren, trying to keep the rust at bay in a Michigan junkyard.

While the 1966 and 1967 cars sold well, it was the big design change of 1968 that really made the Dodge and Plymouth vehicles standouts in the field. It led to the creation of one of the most iconic muscle cars ever produced, the 1968–1970 Dodge Charger. With its voluptuous Coke bottle form, large and open grille, and rocket ship taillights, its striking looks sent sales through the roof from previous years. It became both the hero car and villain car in a long slew of famous car movies and shows, including the movies Bullitt, Blade, and of course, The Dukes of Hazzard. It will live on in people’s minds for decades as the iconic muscle car of the era.

While Plymouth might not have the most iconic muscle car of all time, they are right up there on the list. They had their own updates with the Satellite lineup and brought back the GTX nameplate from 1967. The GTX was good, having the right muscle car engines—the 440 or 426 Hemi—but it was never a huge seller. Then there was an idea: “How about a low-buck muscle car for the young and hip? Name it after a fast cartoon character.” And in a stroke of genius, Plymouth got the rights to produce a car called the Road Runner. It was available in 1968 with just a 383 or Hemi, it was under $3,000, and it was as stripped down as you could get—the exact opposite of the GTX. The Plymouth engineers were even able to get a horn that sounded like the “Beep Beep” of the cartoon character.

The B-body cars were not alone in the muscle car fight, as the smaller A-body platform cars had been competing very well in the same space. The Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda both had a full lineup of engines, especially in their second generation from 1967 through 1969. They were built to directly compete with the Nova SS and Mustangs at the time. Dodge and Plymouth were even able to shoehorn in their biggest engines between the front fenders. It took some inventive engineering, but they did it. But the craziest A-body to be produced came in 1968, and it was never a street-legal car, but was a drag racer only: the 1968 Hemi Super Stock A-bodies. They dropped the 426 Hemi in them and took them drag racing, dominating the field. Sadly, it was a one-year-only model.

One of the craziest things I have seen, a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T sitting in an old car transport trailer for who knows how long. It looks to have been sitting for quite a while.

By 1970, things were ramping up, rather than slowing down with the introduction of Dodge and Plymouth midsize, purpose-built muscle cars on the E-body platform. On the Plymouths side, they brought over the Barracuda name, and for Dodge they called the car the Challenger. They sold well, but never were the huge success that Mopar hoped for. Even though you could get them with the entire range of engines. After the fact, the Hemi ’Cudas and Challengers on the E-body platform became some of the most desirable and coveted muscle cars in the world. The 1970 convertible versions of both cars, and and the 1971 ’Cudas are the most expensive and desirable muscle cars on the planet, regularly selling at auctions in the seven-figure range. While they might not have been a huge sales success originally, they have a legacy all their own.

Perfect and sad timing, this 1970 Challenger convertible is literally broken in half in the junkyard, but it makes for a nice planter for the purple flowers.

As 1971 rolled in, the B-body platform got a complete redesign, going with a more fuselage design, that made them looking bigger while in reality they were slightly smaller than the cars before. The full engine lineup was still available, but this was the end of the serious horsepower. Sales dropped for everyone in 1971, and by 1972 the party was basically over. Gone was the 426 Hemi and for the most part the 440 Six Pack engines only made it into three cars before being cancelled as an option. New emission laws and insurance rates strangled the automotive industry. You could still get a Charger with a 440-cubic-inch V-8 after 1972, but it barely had more power than an engine with 100 fewer cubic inches of displacement.

One of the rarest Dodge vehicles on the planet, this is one of two known 1972 Dodge Charger Rallye with the 440 Six Pack option. This one never really left Michigan, and it has been safely tucked away for a few years.

Meeting an untimely demise, this 1972 Demon 340 looks like it didn’t have a good day at the racetrack, because it has been sitting in a junkyard in Michigan for a long, long time.

Something I never thought I would see in a junkyard: a 1971 Challenger R/T with shaker hood, with the Shaker still on the car, and a tree growing through the engine compartment. This car had a fire from the engine compartment all the way to the taillights, so nothing was really worth saving.

Sitting in an actual forest in Alabama, this is a rare 1971 Demon 340 with the engine still between the fenders. It was still in fairly good shape for where it had been sitting.

Being in Alabama, I thought I was seeing a Dukes of Hazzard clone, but nope! This is a real Hemi Orange 1970 Charger sitting in the forest. The baseline 1970 Chargers basically had the 1969 Charger rear taillight assembly.

Sitting in the back of a North Carolina body shop for a few decades, this 1970 Challenger R/T has a real thick coating of Bondo dust protecting its original yellow paint.

Sitting in the forest in Alabama, this 1971 Road Runner in Violet Purple sits patiently, as it has for years, in the forest.

Sitting out back next to a large steel building is this rare 1969 Road Runner convertible, only produced in 1969 and 1970. This one is well beyond help, having broken in half from sitting so long.

One of the most random finds while driving through Alabama came when I stopped at a small hot rod shop and the owner was kind enough to show me this 1967 Hemi GTX sitting since 1983; he had owned it since 1967.

So the cars adapted to the times, becoming more about luxury and cruising. But sales still were not there, and this eventually led to Mopar’s first bankruptcy. Completely gone were the gas-guzzling, big Mopar V-8s. In their place were small, four-cylinders that just sipped fuel. There were a few standouts in the crowd, such as a lineup of turbo front-wheel-drive Shelby Chargers and four-door Omnis. But they were not very well received. It wasn’t until the revival of the 2004 Dodge Charger and 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 that Dodge really got into the muscle car market again. The brand is still there to this day with offerings such as the Challenger SRT Hellcat, the Charger, and Challenger SRT Demon.

It just goes to show that good ideas never die—they just get reborn with more horsepower.

Sitting as a hulk in a junkyard in North Carolina, this is a rare, one-year-only option 1970 AAR (All American Racers) ’Cuda. It has been stripped of almost everything of value and just left to rust in to the ground.

The owner’s first car, a 1969 Road Runner awaits its turn at a restoration in the corner of the storage building.

I completely found this by accident on the side of the road while traveling with Hot Rod Magazine writer Thom Taylor: a 1970 GTX sits languishing in Alabama.

Sitting in the front yard of a shop in Indiana is this true 1970 ’Cuda 440 six-barrel car with a ton of options, just hanging out until it’s brought inside for work to get started.

Photographed just after it was pulled out of the garage, this real 1970 Hemi ’Cuda had just over 68,000 miles and had been sitting since 1976. This thing is so loaded with options that it has two fender tags.

AMC

I LIVE IN CHICAGO, just a stone’s throw away from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where American Motors Corp. (AMC) was headquartered and site of their main production factory. That’s all mostly gone now, sadly. The old factory site on the lakefront is now occupied by a very nice park and some museums. Most people don’t know, however, that AMC had another location where major work was done—in Detroit!

Most people have no idea that AMC had a major base of operations in the Motor City. That’s usually seen as the domain of the big three: GM, Ford, and Mopar. But AMC had some styling studios and executive offices not far from downtown Detroit, and this is where my friend Justin comes in.

His grandfather was a head designer for AMC in the late 1960s and 1970s. I didn’t know Justin well, but when we were talking once, he told me he had some cool AMC stuff I should check out sometime. I was in Michigan for work in 2016 and arranged to visit him at his house, and I was not prepared for the amazing collection housed there.

As I pulled up, I saw an AMC Javelin AMX in front of the house. Now, I’ve seen many of these in the past, and this one was not in bad shape. It was white with a tan interior, a cool car, but nothing special. Or so I thought.

When the designer heard that they were going to cancel the Javelin lineup over at AMC, he went and ordered a new white 1974 Javelin AMX and made sure that it was the very last one produced. So that’s what the family still has, the very last Javelin AMX produced by AMC. The AMX name would live on, but that was the end of the line for the Javelin name, sadly.

While working for AMC, Justin’s grandfather learned Javelin production was ending, so he went out of his way to get the very last one produced—complete with full documentation. You would think he would have ordered every option, every bell and whistle, the biggest engine with the best transmission—but he didn’t. It is a 304-cubic-inch V-8 with an automatic on the floor.

That was a pleasant surprise, but not the reason I was there—or thought I was there. We headed to his father-in-law’s storage barn and in the corner, in the loft, was the AMC concept car called the Amitron.

The AMC Amitron concept car was designed to be the future. It was an electric car for the city designed to reduce emissions and traffic. It was produced in 1967 as the Amitron, and was redone in 1977 and renamed the Electron to work with AMC’s “Concept 80” lineup. But the Amitron was ahead of its time for what it was supposed to be. It was intended to be fully electric, but never got that far. The concept, in all its grandeur, was nothing but a shell made of wood and plastic. The wheels were golf cart tires. It was intended to show what AMC could build if the public wanted it—and the public didn’t.

Tucked in the very back of a storage barn, up on the storage loft is the AMC factory show car. The AMC Amitron was a factory concept car for an all-electric car. It was intended to showcase what they could do and what shape it would take. Nothing actually developed from it.

Some Amitron styling was seen in later AMC products such as the Pacer and Gremlin. When the car’s usefulness to AMC ended, Justin’s grandfather rescued it and tucked it away. It has been tucked away since the 1970s. When Justin had to move it, they had room in the loft, so up it went, safely tucked away where nobody can bother this important piece of history.

Below the Amitron was another vehicle from the AMC styling studios: a Jeep CJ5. They made thousands of those, but what made this one unique was it was the body on which all the different stripe packages were developed. That was its entire job, to be drawn and taped on. It did it for nearly two decades, and then it sat in the corner of the AMC studios. It, too, was about to be destroyed, but again Justin’s grandfather rescued the old Jeep and tucked it away in his barn. At least this one was a complete vehicle!

Back in Justin’s house we started going through his grandfather’s archives, and Justin displayed a prized possession: the model prototype for the Amitron. To sell management on a concept, a small-scale model would be built and presented to the board for approval. These models usually disappeared once the car was produced. Thinking ahead, Justin’s grandfather saved the model. What an incredible confluence of luck that both the prototype model and actual concept would end up with the same owner and preserved for decades. It blows my mind.

We looked at all the design sketches his grandfather had created, beautiful artwork from the ’60s and ’70s showing what people were into at the time. There were folders of stuff that dreams are made of, actual dreams sketched onto a page. I had only seen such artwork online or in exhibits, and to see the actual works in my hands still gives me goose bumps.

We went to Justin’s garage to see a few more items from his grandfather, including an all-original military Jeep that his grandfather had saved from being destroyed. It was unique in that it used to sit in the styling studio in Detroit to remind everyone what a Jeep is supposed to look like. It was the purest example of what they were building for the future, and he could not see that history destroyed, so he saved it.

There was also a Model A project of Justin’s in the garage, and project scooters and motorcycles. While looking at all the cool projects and petroliana, something on the wall caught my eye. I actually stopped in my tracks—an appropriate choice of words. Before I was a car nut, I loved trains. I still do, and my favorite trains are usually the ones that ran on the Milwaukee Road, especially the famous Hiawatha streamliners of the steam and diesel eras. There, hanging on the wall was the side lettering to a Hiawatha locomotive. I later discovered it was probably originally from a Fairbanks Morse diesel locomotive. Justin said he had heard his grandfather got it when they were scrapping some trains nearby.

The time had come to leave, so I thanked Justin for everything and headed on my way, head spinning while trying to process everything that I had just seen in such a short time.

A better look at the front end of the concept buck. It basically was just safe and dry and out of any real danger. Since the car is nothing but a shell in reality, the buck just needs to be cleaned up to be presentable.

Before the big concept buck is made, a small one is produced so the designers can show management what they want to do and how it would look. The grandson still had the original design model that was produced for the same car that was sitting in the loft in his barn. How often does that happen?!

HORNETS, GREMLINS & GO-KARTS

IN MY ADVENTURES, I’ve been fortunate to forge friendships with many people around the country. Some of my best friends live states away, and we only see each other once or twice a year on an adventure or two. Other times they end up being in your back yard, and you had no idea.

I met Tommy on the Hot Rod Power Tour a few years ago, and then again in a Hornet Sportabout in the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals car show in Chicago. I’ve always been a fan of the American Motors–produced cars, and his was a really nice example. So, we chatted online over time, and he later invited me to Kenosha to show me some of the cool stuff hidden around there. I had no idea he was that close, so I grabbed my friend Bill and we set off to meet Tommy.

Many people don’t know that Kenosha was the epicenter for American Motors Corporation (AMC). The company had its corporate headquarters in town, along with multiple production facilities. One of the factories was directly on the lakefront. Unfortunately, AMC was bought out by Chrysler in late 1980s and shortly afterward the main plant was closed, while a few smaller ones remained operational for another decade. The plant on the lake was torn down and the site became the center of Kenosha’s revival with museums, parks, and even a vintage trolley system that runs in the parks and in part of downtown.

One of my favorite AMC products is the Hornet. This 1971 Hornet was not the high-performance SC/360 model, but the scoop had been added at some point to make it more closely resemble one. It was another car buried in the building, but was complete other than a few missing pieces of trim and headlights.

With a long day of adventuring ahead of us, we ate heartily at a true old-school diner in Kenosha called Frank’s Diner. A train car turned restaurant, it looked like it had not been updated since the 1950s, and it was the perfect place to start a day of going into barns, fields, and garages.

After a large, greasy breakfast, we headed out with Tommy to his friend’s place. I had driven past it for years while exploring the area, but it never stood out. But when you walked into the building, everything changed. It was filled wall to wall with AMC gold.

Joe, the owner of the cars and property, and his son were there working on some projects and were happy to show us around. Most of the cars in the building were not “barn finds” because most of them ran, and had been run recently. Joe had a good grasp of all the rare cars AMC produced, and he had a very nice production 1969 Hurst SC/Rambler in the main garage stall, ready to run out the door if needed. By the front door was an AMC Rebel, a regular Rebel, not the famous “The Machine” Rebel so many people know about. But this one was a factory convertible to which Joe had added many parts of a “The Machine” model, making it cool and unique.

It’s not often that you find an AMC Rebel convertible sitting in an old repair shop, but it also has been converted into a “what if” concept of what a Rebel “The Machine” convertible might look like. It started out as a Rebel SST convertible—which is rare in and of itself—but then having The Machine pieces put on just makes it that much cooler.

The first year for the infamous AMC Gremlin was 1970, and this just happens to be an original 1970 Gremlin sitting out at the AMC farm. The reason this car was saved while so many others were parted out through the years is that 1970 models had numerous unique parts that no other year had, so this one sat as a parts car for a future restoration.

Plus, Joe had a real “The Machine” buried in the corner of the building—and I mean buried. At first, I couldn’t even tell what the car was until I took a closer look and he pointed out that it was a “Machine.” Next to it was something I had never seen before: an AMC Pacer Go-Kart, and Joe had two. Even though one was smashed into small pieces, having two rare karts like that was rather unique.

There was also a nice AMC American two-door in white, and a really clean AMC Hornet. The Hornet has always been an underrated muscle car, but you could get them in the SC/360 model, with hopped-up 360-cubic-inch V-8 that made really fun cars to play with. This was not an SC/360 car, but a more low-line version. Still, Joe had everything needed for a conversion when the time was right.

In this building, the coolest car for me was another AMC American, this one a drag racer. That’s not usually my thing, but it was oozing with cool. It had been campaigned seriously when new, so it was fully painted and lettered up, and then the team got a newer car to race and put this one away. For the past 40 years, it sat silently in a garage until Joe acquired it and began to get things rolling. He is going to keep the car as is, but make it a functioning race car again. He was just finishing up on the engine at the time of our visit.

Thinking this was the extent of the collection, I was surprised when Joe offered to take us down the road to his family’s farm. It was worth the drive to the property where, painted on the barn door, a large AMC logo was hard to miss. Joe had been cleaning up the property, and what remained were a handful of full-size Ambassadors and a 1970 AMC Gremlin that he kept because of its many one-year-only parts.

My favorite AMC products are the original 1968–1970 AMC AMX 2–seaters. They just ooze cool to me, and this 1970 Model AMX places right up there near the top. This one is buried in another garage that long ago was a small dealership. This one is complete, and if it were unburied and refurbished, I’m sure would be a great cruiser again.

Our final stop was Joe’s father’s storage building. Joe’s father opened the door and wow! I know this is going to be a surprise, but: MORE AMC products. There was a neat chopped AMC Pacer on a lift, another one in the corner, even an old cart from the AMC plant with its original paint, which was like the AMC logo! My favorite, though, was the 1970 AMC AMX because I have a serious soft spot for the two-seaters.

This is an original 1969 Rambler American Post Coupe that was used in drag racing. The car is in original, as-raced condition, having been put away and just abandoned after the team had moved onto another AMC car. So, the new owner bought it and is eventually going to put in a new engine and do some nostalgia drag racing.

The owner’s son was walking with us and he knew just about as much as his dad did of the history of the vehicles they owned. This poor mid-1970s Gremlin was going to be his. Yeah, it was missing a bunch of stuff, but he had a dream to make it something. I’m hoping that it comes true!

A clean 1969 AMC American coupe sits buried in the building. This was the same style of car that was used for the AMC SC/Rambler race cars and factory high-performance cars. Since this one is white, it’s not far from being built into a tribute to one of those. It just needs to get dug out.

The building used to be a dealership a long, LONG time ago, and out back was a large storage area where Joe’s family had more vehicles tucked away. Some were nice, others needed work. There was an original 1969 AMC AMX that, when new, had the “Go Package,” the highest performance offering for the AMX. But the one that really touched me was a ratty Gremlin in the corner that Joe’s son had claimed as his. He and his dad had plans of fixing it up and making it his fun car.

It was a lot to take in, and our group did it in a fairly short amount of time. Sadly, time doesn’t stop, and neither did we. But this was about the top of the heap for collections of cool AMC products I have ever had the honor of documenting.

Another AMX was out back in the yard. This was a 1969 model in the worst shape of the AMX models hanging around it. But it had one big thing going for it: it was an original “Go Package” car, which means it had a better suspension, bigger engine, and was an all-around upgraded car. So while it was in rough shape, it was definitely worth rescuing.

ARKANSAS TERRY’S VERY MERRY DODGEPODGE OF MUSCLE

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE STORIES that makes all the time, money, and effort we invest worthwhile. It was an epic find with amazing people and an incredible owner. I just wish it hadn’t happened the way it did.

I had known about Terry’s stash for a few years, but was never able to locate it. A friend even had pictures of it, but didn’t share in order to protect Terry. One day a young woman named Faith posted a photo on Instagram of a blue 1970 Plymouth Superbird that looked as if it had been sitting for a while. She said it had, and that the owner had other stuff lying around as well. I asked her if it was OK to ask the owner to see the cars, and she said the owner would be ecstatic to show me the collection.

Usually in these situations, I don’t have to move too fast, as the cars have been sitting for years and they probably weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Sadly, this situation was the complete opposite. Terry, the owner, had been diagnosed with cancer, a rather unpleasant kind. He wasn’t doing the greatest, and on a few recommendations, I knew I had to visit him ASAP.

Right after Thanksgiving 2016, I loaded my car and headed south. I joined up with my friend who knew Terry, but didn’t realize what was going on. We met up with Faith and her husband, Jared, and all headed to Terry’s house.

I’ve found a few 1969.5 A12 440 Six Barrel Superbees in my travels, but never one as complete as this one. Nor have I seen one as complete, and so completely left out in the elements for so long. This poor car was one of Terry’s prides and joy, having it for decades. He built a fence around it to keep it safe and near his home.

Terry had been delayed at an appointment, but he gave us permission to start looking around the outer property. I looked over the fence by his house and there were two very rare Mopars sitting there!

Hidden behind an old wooden fence were two extremely desirable Dodge products, including a 1969 ½ Dodge A12 Super Bee. What made this Super Bee special was that the A12 option package was available for only half a year, and its unique parts were available only for this vehicle and the 1969 ½ Plymouth Road Runner A12. The A12 package included an Edelbrock Six-Pack aluminum intake manifold, three two-barrel carburetors, black steel wheels with chrome lug nuts, and an unmistakable, all-black lift-off fiberglass hood.

This car had been sitting in the yard for so long that moss and mold had taken up residence on the body, but everything of value was there, including the original hood and side scoops, and the interior was mostly intact. The engine was not original, nor did it have the correct Six-Pack intake, but it did have a post-stock setup atop the engine.

Terry’s main passion was drag racing. He had been doing it all his life. He was able through a series of events to pick up this Dodge Challenger. It was originally a ’70 Challenger, then converted into a 1972 style to still be applicable for racing. This car supposedly has a very long history with it supposedly being a Dick Landy car, but there was no evidence at that time that the car had any connection to the drag racing legend.

This engine is a Mopar 1969 440-cubic-inch V-8 sitting in a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T, that is behind a barn on Terry’s property. That is not too crazy usually, well at least for me. The really weird thing is what was done to the engine. The exhaust manifolds on the car are off a 1962 Dodge Max Wedge drag racing engine, which is extremely rare. And the intake is the original Six Pack (three two-barrel carburetors) intake and carbs from the A12 Superbee sitting in the front yard. None of it makes sense to me, but it made sense to Terry at some point.

Next to the Bee was a Dodge Challenger. It had the 1972-style nose and tail panel, but telltale signs that pointed to it being an earlier car were the earlier-style side marker lights. The car was supposedly built by a big-name West Coast racer, but there was no supporting documentation. It was a complete and cool race car, though, that looked as though it had just been driven into the yard and parked.

This was just the beginning. Everywhere we looked there was some interesting piece of a Dodge or Plymouth hanging around. We found rare exhaust manifolds, intakes, Dana 60 rear axle assemblies, and complete bucket seats just lying around the property. There was also some cool cars sitting outside, such as a 1974 Plymouth Road Runner and a 1967 Dodge Dart. Another vehicle sitting out in the open was a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T, which is a cool car that was the more expensive big brother to the Super Bee. Same body, but a nicer interior. The R/T was the high-performance model in the Coronet lineup and could have a 440-cubic-inch V-8 or 426 Hemi engine. This one was a 440 car, but when we popped the hood, we got a big surprise!

It took a bit of wiggling through tire racks, but I made my way over to the last car in the barn, a 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T. It was a low miles car, with a four-speed manual transmission. This is about the best picture I could get of the car, and that is of the rear end. The front end was completely buried in boxes and old race car parts.

Terry standing next to his Superbird. He had wanted one for the longest time, and was finally able to purchase one. He drove it all over the place for years, even getting Richard Petty from NASCAR fame and an original NASCAR Superbird driver, to sign the nose of the car. The Superbird was an original 440 V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor. It had a few custom touches done before Terry even had it, like the original vinyl top being removed when it was used as a pace car at a local racetrack.

Indeed, under the hood was a 440 big-block, but the intake was the original Six-Pack setup from the Super Bee sitting near the front of the property. Even weirder were the exhaust manifolds hanging off the heads. These cars had what Dodge called “HP” exhaust manifolds that flowed a bit better then stock. Terry didn’t think they were worth it, so he installed a set of extremely rare 1962 Mopar Max Wedge exhaust manifolds. These were the manifolds used on Mopar-built drag racers, and Terry had put them on a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T that had long been sitting behind a barn. It was mind-boggling.

As we finished with the Coronet, Terry and his friend Penny had arrived and we made our way to the barn. It did not disappoint. You walked in and there was just enough light to see his hidden hoard of cars. There were parts scattered all around—426 Hemi intakes on the shelves, racks of old tires, even a set or two of Mopar Max Wedge Heads sitting in a barrel. But your eyes first went to all the cars.

This is the 1969 Coronet R/T out back behind the storage barn that Terry had. It is dangerously close to a pretty good fall off as well. It’s been back there for decades he said. The R/T option gave you the 440 or 426 Hemi engine. This one had the 440 with all the weird pieces put onto the car for odd reasons. For sitting so long, the car wasn’t in terrible shape being in a somewhat protected spot next to the barn, but the moss and mold were starting to take hold.

Front and center was the 1970 Plymouth Superbird that Faith had documented was a real Superbird with a historic past. At one point it served as a pace car for a racetrack, and “The King” of NASCAR, Richard Petty, had signed his name on the car’s nose. Originally a yellow car, it had been painted blue for longer than Terry had owned it, and the vinyl top that came on all Superbirds from the factory to cover up shoddy workmanship was removed to make the car look more like actual NASCAR Superbirds, which didn’t have vinyl tops.

There was a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda near the door that you could hardly tell was a Barracuda because of all the stuff on top of it. And while the Superbird is my favorite, the neatest car there was the 1962 Dodge 330 two-door, a Max Wedge car with the high-performance 413-cubic-inch V-8. This was the source of the exhaust manifolds on the Coronet behind the building, we believed. It was still painted in its racing livery and had the names of driver Ken Permenter and the car’s sponsor, Langley Dodge in Blytheville, Arkansas.

Next to the 330 was another neat car, a 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T with a 440-cubic-inch V-8 and a manual four-speed transmission. It was in good shape and had low miles on the odometer. It was rather hard to get pictures of this one, as the 330 was nearly touching it on the driver’s side, and the wall was on the other. It must have taken some real work to get these tucked in.

We went from the barn into the house where Terry regaled us with his adventures from over the decades, including how he worked hard to make his cars fast, how he always did the work needed during the week to get the parts he needed to get faster at the drag strip. He was always running something at the local track, such as his Superbird or even an old limousine. I documented as many stories as I could, and then we all went to dinner in town before splitting up.

Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw Terry. A few short months later the cancer extinguished his bright flame, but I hope his story will live on in the cars and stories he shared with me, and everyone else who listened.

Buried in the storage barn was an unbelievable find, an original steel nose 1962 Dodge 330 Max Wedge drag car. Terry ran this car for a few years, but for the most part he left the car untouched. The car is still in the original lettering that it had when it raced in the 1960s. And with it all being hand painted on, other than a few stickers, they had a really neat patina to them. At some point it wasn’t worth running, as compared to another car he had, so he put it away in the barn.

THE DARNED BARN DODGES

EVERY FALL FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, I have headed to the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum to help with a variety of items, and the trip finds me in Detroit before I get home. The 2016 trip ended up being the longest one, at about a month on the road. When traveling south, I always plan different stops en route, and I also try to visit friends who I don’t often see often. Sometimes things just work out and I can do both!

Heading south in 2016, I was able to hit up my friend Robert and his wife, Jerri. We had done this before, and always tried to go adventuring toward Alabama, my final destination. Thankfully, Robert had a friend John with an insane collection of cars sitting not far off the beaten path, so after a good breakfast at a neat old restaurant, that’s where we headed.

Pulling up to John’s place, it was clear we were in the right spot. There were cars scattered around the yard by the barn, and there were horses wandering around the yard. Previously, I had seen cows use a 1969 Dodge Super Bee as a rubbing block, so I was worried about the cars scattered about, but I would learn the horses mostly left the cars alone.

Probably the coolest and my top car on the property was this 1971 Dodge Charger R/T. The car was originally equipped with a 440-cubic-inch V-8 and had the Ramcharger hood option, where a small door would open up with the pull of a handle on the inside. It still had that hood. And even with it sitting in the open field, it was in really good shape. It had not been there that long, but all together the car had been sitting for a while.

I was introduced to John and his wife, Sandra, and John noted he used to have many more cars when they lived in Michigan, but had sold most of them when they moved south. What they had now had not been sitting that long, although in some cases it looked like they had been.

The first barn had once been a chicken coop, and it had a weird material on the ground I didn’t recognize. We walked in, and as I looked around, I saw rows and rows of cars neatly lined up, with two of John’s main projects right up front.

Most of the project cars were Dodge and Plymouth vehicles. Over the years John acquired them from a variety of states. Some were barn finds, others were in junkyards or fields. There were several Road Runners and Super Bees, a GTX, a Coronet R/T, and even a handful of Chevrolets in the first building. I didn’t count, but there had to have been at least 30 cars.

The second building was just about as big as the first, and it too was full of all variety of cars, but mostly Dodges and Plymouths. There were a few rare Chevrolets in there, including an Impala SS and a Monte Carlo SS from the ’80s. It was neat to see these older farm buildings being used to keep these cool cars in good condition.

Outside where the horses roamed free were cars everywhere—and I do mean everywhere. Between the two storage buildings were a handful of cars, including a 1972 Dodge Polara and some ’80s Dodge Diplomat cop cars. Way out back behind the buildings was a random collection of cars, such as a 1971 Plymouth GTX in the weeds with a damaged front end. John had saved the car from getting crushed.

Nearby was a 1972 Dodge Charger with a 1990s Cummins diesel truck engine. Surprisingly, it fit, but it was a beast. John hadn’t had it running and had rescued it from the previous owner. There was also a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner and a 1970 Dodge Challenger, but you could hardly see them behind the weeds that were extremely prevalent and tall near the cars.

In the open field was a 1971 Dodge Demon drag car they had rescued. It was complete and in good condition, but needed a bunch of work. It looked like it had been sitting outside for decades before John rescued it. Just beyond that was a nice, clean, yellow 1973 Plymouth Duster.

While sitting in a farm field is not ideal, it had been a very dry year so far, and the Demon hadn’t been out there that long. So it was OK, until the cows came around.

A bunch of cars were scattered around the field. The first one I came across was this 1971 Dodge Demon that someone had made into a drag racer.

The two cars just beyond this point really piqued my interest. In this open pasture was a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T. It didn’t have an engine, but still had the original Ramcharger hood with a small door that popped open when a switch was pulled inside the car. It had such a good look that I would have thrown an engine in there and driven it as it was.

Behind that was one of my personal favorites: a 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda. It was originally powered by the 340-cubic-inch V-8 engine, and it had a bit rougher life than most of the others. It actually had some rust and must have been sitting outside for a long time. Mostly complete, it would be a great car to restore. One neat thing about the car wasn’t actually anything about the car, but what was on it: the rear license plate frame advertised the Phil Turner dealership, a Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth/Jeep/AMC dealership in Sylacauga, Alabama. Those didn’t exist together like that very long, making the frame a rather neat trinket.

John led us to the other side of the field where we saw a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 by the tree line. And there was a 1970 Dodge Coronet and a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. Both were in very poor shape, thus their banishment to this remote location. It was still weird to see them in such a unique position, just sitting in a field.

John then showed some of his parts stashes hidden around the property. I know if I had the time, money, and space, I would be just like him. He was kind to allow me and Robert the afternoon to take up his time and show us around, especially with his wife being pregnant at the time. I thanked everyone for their graciousness and hit the road, but I can honestly say I’ll never forget his place!

Way in the back of the farm field, just edging out the forest sat two more cars. Another 1970 Dodge Coronet and a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. These were just about the worst cars on the property, and it showed. The Coronet hadn’t moved in so long, the weeds were growing up and through the engine compartment with ease.

I was nice enough to be shown my friends’ collection of cars, many of which are sitting in old chicken coops. This is one of my favorites personally, since I love 70 Coronets. It is a 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T. It hadn’t had a very easy life, but it really wasn’t in terrible shape, even from sitting in the chicken coop for a while. It was actually a nice car underneath that didn’t need that much. I actually liked the patina look of the car.

One year older and a slightly different model, this 1969 Dodge Superbee looks to have lead a colorful life. It was in much rougher shape than the 70 Coronet R/T that was in front of it. The fender showed years of battle scars and different color paints. Thankfully, though, it had desirable options, showed the under-hood Ramcharger cold air intake system and side quarter scoops.

Another bevy of decent cars sat inside another chicken coop on the property, including this 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T. This one was nice and dry, with a nice patina. You couldn’t tell what the original color was without reading the fender tag. The gray-and-red worn look hid what it was originally. It was mostly complete, though, and safe, so it was in better shape than others around there.

MUSCLE SHOALS HAS GOT THE SWAMPERS
(AND ’CUDAS, CHALLENGERS, AND MORE)

IT’S FUNNY THE WAY THINGS WORK OUT sometimes. I had talked to Robert online because at the time he had shared some of my barn find images with my watermark removed. We had a discussion about that and ended up becoming friends. A few weeks later I was heading south to the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum for the big Aero Warrior Reunion, and Robert said I should stop by, that he would show me some cool stuff. Plans were made and I headed south.

Usually, people know of one or two cars in the woods or a field. Not Robert. He was connected with everyone in a tri-state area! And he was a diehard Mopar guy, so it was kismet. We met in town, ate, and talked too long, then headed out of town a ways.

We pulled up to a nice ranch home in the country, but there were no rusting cars in the front yard, nothing to tip me off about what was to come. We headed down the gravel drive and Dave, the owner, appeared with the most vicious-looking little attack wiener dog. If you didn’t give him constant attention or treats, he would lick you to death.

Dave asked if I wanted to see some of his nicer cars, and I was all for it. He started pulling out 1970 and 1971 Plymouth ’Cuda convertibles! He had easy access to three beautifully done convertibles and a Viper, and he pulled them all onto his back lawn. One of the 1971 cars hadn’t run in over a year, but he got it running for me to see.

Under the owner’s house was another neat storage space. Where the basement would be, there was another garage. And it was filled with more Mopars, specifically 1972 ’Cudas and a few other project ones. These were definitely in not the best shape, but being the enclosed basement garage did keep them dry and safe. I’m sure that eventually they will either be worked on or traded, because the owner does actually restore his cars one at a time.

I was flabbergasted to see these beautiful cars running. Usually when we hit up a large barn finds collection, the owner doesn’t have a nice car. Dave had a collection of beautiful, running cars, along with a collection of cars that had been sitting for a while. After all the running cars were out, we moved to the first building.

I walked in, and this was more like what I was used to, except for the beautiful 1971 Dodge Challenger 383-cubic-inch V-8 convertible sitting right in front of us. It made me long to have my ’71 Challenger finished. But it was everything around the car that was more in my wheelhouse: tons upon tons of cool Mopar muscle car parts.

Various Mopar grilles hung from the rafters, for a 1971 Challenger, 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, 1968 Plymouth GTX, etc. I saw a pile of parts I thought were on a big table or something, but I was incorrect: the parts were sitting on top of a 1970 Plymouth AAR ’Cuda! It was an original dark green car, and its restoration had begun. One quarter had been replaced and parts for it were scattered around the property. Other projects had injected themselves into Dave’s production line, so the AAR had been put on the back burner, but not forgotten.

Next to the AAR ’Cuda was what looked to be a 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A! It had the right stripes, but Dave corrected me that it was just a tribute car he had picked up. So it sat while other projects on the list got worked on. Along the wall were rows of Mopar transmissions, as well as just about any other part you could think of. Between the transmissions and the Challenger was a small-block Mopar under a tarp. Dave told me to pull the tarp up, and to my surprise there was an original 340 Six Barrel engine out of the AAR ‘Cuda. There also was a nice 1970 Dart Swinger 340 in the garage, but it was a nice running and driving car.

We moved to the house, and if I could have a house, this would be it. It was built into a hillside and had two built-in garages! There was the 2½ car garage on the main floor where a 1971 ’Cuda convertible sat, and in the lower basement were even more Mopars, mostly ’Cudas! As you walked in, you saw a yellow 1972 ’Cuda, a 1970 Barracuda, and yet another 1970s Barracuda. There was a 1971 Dodge Challenger, but you could see which E-body Mopar Dave favored the most. Also scattered around the lower basement was much of the green AAR ’Cuda from the other building.

And we weren’t done! Dave slid open the door to the big building, and the view was jaw-dropping. There was a beautifully restored yellow 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A that was really nice to see, but along the wall was something more my speed: a 1964 Plymouth Fury convertible. This was the roughest car in the bunch, basically just a shell of a car. Next to it was a very nice 1972 ’Cuda that was a shelf when not in use. My favorite in the group was the 1970 ’Cuda convertible that was an original 340 car, which I feel is the best all-around Mopar you can get, outside of an AAR or Challenger T/A. And next to that was a “what-if” 1970 Challenger T/A convertible Dave built. These last three cars were not “barn finds” as they had not been sitting for years, but judging by the dust covering them, they had sat for quite a while.

There was one last ’Cuda in the building, in Dave’s trailer. It wasn’t a barn find or any sort of neglected vehicle, but it was something special: a real 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda. It had the Hemi under the hood and a shaker through the hood. It was sweet. It nearly identical to the car my father bought new in 1970. That’s right, my father bought a Hemi ’Cuda new in 1970, and I still have the engine and transmission. But that’s another long story.

Thinking we were done, I was about to head out when Dave stopped me. He took Robert and me out back and in a lean-to was something neat: a low-mile 1978 Dodge Lil’ Red Express truck. Tucked away for a rainy day, it was complete and in good shape, other than a broken turn signal in the grille. It looked like you could wash the truck and go for a drive. Things just don’t rot away in the south like they do in the north!

Dave had one more interesting tidbit to show: a radio out of 1970s Dodge truck that had a built-in CB radio from the factory. I had never seen anything like it at that point. It was really neat, and it was awesome that Dave had allowed me open access to his collection. And it was incredible that Robert and I were able to enjoy this adventure—and more since—after having a rough start. It just goes to show that most car guys are good guys when you get right down to it!

Not knowing what to expect when entering a storage area, this was definitely unexpected, but a true 1970 AAR ’Cuda. This one had a restoration started on the car, as the quarters had been replaced, but other cars had taken up much of the owner’s time, and the AAR has sat, being used for a shelf in the meantime. But it is dry and safe, so it isn’t degrading anymore.

In a large steel storage barn were a few more cars stashed away. This poor 1970 ’Cuda convertible was a very clean car. Red with a white vinyl top and interior. It was odd though, that it had side impact moldings. Fortunately, the car not being seriously neglected and has a car cover over it normally, until I got there.

Out back, behind the storage barn was a lean-to area with a really neat piece of history. A low-mile 1978 Dodge Lil’ Red Express truck. This one has been bought and tucked away, knowing that they were only produced for two years. Even with being in the dirt and semi-open environment, it was a very solid vehicle. I was dying to give it a wash and see what it looked like without an inch of dust on it.

THE PENNSYLVANIA PINK BARRACUDA

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT when going on adventures like I do. Sometimes it is a dead end and nothing pops up. Then there are times like this adventure where they go well beyond your wildest imagination. The cars and their locations are exactly what you think of when it comes to automotive archaeology, especially when the term barn find is thrown around. This has some of the best examples of a barn find I have, and it all started online.

You read earlier about Dan and his collection in Pennsylvania. It had been Dodges for the most part before this. The 1969 Daytona in the parts store, which blew my mind, and it was the first thing I saw. It was not the only vehicle though. Next to the Daytona were two 1967 Hemi GTX models. And there was a 1969 Dodge Super Bee A12 440 Six Pack car that had a 361-cubic-inch V-8 under the hood instead of the original 440. That’s a rather odd combination in and of itself.

Looking around one room, I could not believe the variety of parts and pieces scattered about. There were additional original 1970 Plymouth Superbird nosecones sitting between cars, and original Superbird and Plymouth ’Cuda shaker hoods stacked in the corner, and a completely restored 426 Hemi, just ready to be dropped in one of the 1967 GTX models sitting there.

Even with a 68 Hemi Superbee in the barn, the hands down coolest car was this 1970 ’Cuda. It came with the 340 cubic-inch V-8 and original Moulin Rouge (Pink) paint. This thing you could not miss from a mile away. A very rare color for any Dodge, Plymouth, or Chrysler vehicle period.

It continued downstairs with a mind-boggling variety of rare and desirable parts neatly organized and situated. After that we headed over to his second building in town. It was an older building, and when you are in Pennsylvania, that means something. It was two stories, but built into a hillside, so the top floor was at ground height for that part of the hill, and the lower part exited onto the lower part of the hill. On the building’s upper level were two beautifully restored cars under covers: a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Road Runner and a 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda 440 Six Barrel car.

In the bay to the left, tons of fenders and extra parts hung from the wall. The entire wall was lined with fenders from all manner of Mopar muscle cars, and tucked away in the back of the bay was a 1970 Plymouth GTX that had been on a rotisserie for restoration for a few decades.

In another bay was one of the 1970 Plymouth Superbirds featured in the Aero Warriors section of this book, and there was also another 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda tucked away in the corner. At this point, I thought that we had seen it all. Then Dave asked if I wanted to see the “basement.” How could there be a basement, I wondered, since we walked in from street level? We walked around the building and down the hill, and then it all made sense.

The other high-dollar Plymouth in the basement was this non-descript 1970 ’Cuda. It fortunately had the R-code in the 5th spot on the VIN, meaning it was an original 1970 Hemi ’Cuda. One of the most desirable muscle cars in the world. This one was missing most of the front-end pieces, but they were not too far away. It was also coated in tractor oil to keep it from rusting.

There was a door in the center of the lower level, and once you opened it and turned on the lights, I felt like Howard Carter discovering the Tomb of King Tutankhamun in Egypt. There were cars everywhere in the basement, every one of them was something. The cars in the basement were tightly packed in to protect them and create maximum space for maximum cars and other items. There were spare doors—rare and unique—scattered about; it made it a bit hard to concentrate when Dave started talking about them.

In front of the door was a 1969 AMC AMX that was owned by his brother, and next to it was a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda body that was in the process of restoration, or it looked that way from the primer. Of all the cars there, the car sitting in front of the AMX was the one I most wanted to see: a real 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda. It was missing most of the front-end pieces, but they were probably tucked away in one of the other buildings. Dave knew what he had, and he said it was a Hemi ’Cuda, and I believed him. I wish I could have gotten closer, but unfortunately there was so much stuff in the way, that was impossible. It didn’t help that most of the cars in the basement were coated in heavy oil to prevent them from rusting! So they had a rather interesting sheen to them.

Of all the care he had, 99 percent were either Dodge or Plymouth vehicles. The two outliers were a pair of Mustangs. One was not just any 1970 Ford Mustang, but was a real 1970 Mustang Boss 302! In the back was a 1970 Plymouth GTX, about which Dave said, “Oh, It’s just another Hemi GTX.” Of course! What was I thinking? Just another Hemi car. Again, I could not get to it, because of the cars closely packed in. But the last two cars in the section were another 1967 Plymouth GTX and a Plymouth Superbird seen in the Aero Warriors section.

Way back, in the basement garage of an old warehouse in the hills of Pennsylvania sat this 1970 Plymouth GTX. This was no ordinary GTX, but one that originally came with a 426 Hemi. It had been buried in the very back of the basement, until such time it was ready to be restored. Until that time came, the owner took tractor oil and coated all the surfaces, to keep the car from rusting.

Walking into an actual 100-year-old barn just full of Mopars is quite the experience. Just as you walked in, to the left was a 1970 ’Cuda. I could not tell anything else, because it was tucked in the corner very tightly. But it had the patina outline of the ’Cuda badge on the tail panel, meaning it could have had anything from a 340 cubic-inch V-8 to a 426 Hemi.

That was it, I thought; there weren’t any more buildings, from what I could see. Of course, I was wrong. Dave had a family farm with more buildings. The next day, Dave’s friend took me over there, and in one building was another fully restored 1967 Hemi GTX. One was originally Dave’s father’s car, and Dave had the matching one, as well as a long-term project 1970s Barracuda of some form.

Also on the property was a real old barn. So old, you could see the way the timbers had been shaped, and it wasn’t done with saws. So it was most likely over 100 years old. It had a lower storage area filled with parts cars or really far-distant projects. Among this group was a wrecked 1970 Plymouth GTX. Dave couldn’t let the car get crushed, so he brought it to the farm. There was also a 1970 Plymouth Satellite, a ’67 Plymouth Satellite, and a wrecked—now pink—black and yellow 1972 Plymouth Barracuda shell.

Upstairs was the treasure. Time had not been good to the ramp leading to the main floor, as in: it did not exist anymore. We had to walk a plank to get in the door, and with the beautiful Pennsylvania day, it was perfect for what we did next. We went through the door, and there was treasure. Cars everywhere, and they had been there a long time. And as of that moment, there was no way to get them out! So they were literally stuck in the barn. Barn finds as legit as you can get!

In the center of the barn was a 1968 Dodge Superbee. I did not think anything of it at the time, the car was missing much of the front sheet metal and there was no engine or transmission. It wasn’t a crazy color, so I concentrated on the other vehicles in the barn. That was until the guy pointed out that the car was an original Hemi Car! That made me to an about face and take a much closer look at the derelict shell.

In front of the door were a few Dodge Coronets and a Dodge Superbee (a Hemi car, I later learned) I didn’t know because I was more concerned with the other cars in the barn. There was a 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda, and a smattering of other vehicles, including a special trio of cars. A Mustang in the corner was an early model that supposedly was a very well-optioned car, but the other two drew my gaze. Next to the Mustang was a plain Jane white 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, 318-cubic-inch V-8 car. Just a good, solid cruiser, the kind you rarely see anymore, with everyone turning them into Hemi ’Cuda clones. Next to that was the crown jewel: a legit 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda in Moulin Rouge (pink). It was very well optioned, with road lights, a hockey stripe denoting it was a 340-cubic-inch V-8 car, and the pink color. These are extremely rare to come across, especially in such original shape. My jaw hit the floor when I saw it. It was quite the sight: The barn wood had shrunk over the decades, so little cracks of light seeped in everywhere, and I’ve never seen a sight quite like that one.

After soaking in the scene as long as I could, I had to head to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for the annual Chrysler at Carlisle event. I thanked everyone for the amazing opportunity to see such an incredible collection and booked it out of there. Throughout the ride to the show, I went over the previous two days in my mind, trying to rationalize the volume and quality of cars and parts I had just seen. It was so much awesome, with such a nice individual, in such a beautiful part of the country. It stands as one of my favorite adventures ever.

You can see the barn wood is so old, it has shrunk slightly, allowing for light to squeeze in between each slat, giving the area a unique feel. And with being in so many barns, you pick up a thing or two. And the way the beams are cut and put together, means this barn is over 100 years old at least. And the cars sitting in the barn just make it that much more cooler.