Random Hemi E-Body of the Week

[Topcat]

@72hemi

He helped promote that show when he was President of Mopar Alley.

It was one of the most successful shows in N. CA. due to him and Wades awesome collection on display that year.

Wade brought out the best cars and it was amazing.

[Cudino]

Thanks All!  That 2010 Mopar Alley show was a lot of fun.  Most of the cars got driven there and back, roughly 60 miles round trip.  Fortunately they all behaved, and as exhausting as it was the show was a great success, in no small part due to the enormous efforts of @72hemi and the other show organizers.

For my FC7 car, great feature as usual Tom!  I added the billboards, but otherwise I restored the car to its sheet.  And one other upgrade I've made since these pics were taken was to replace those repop rims with a set of original 450s.  Here's a couple recent pics.

It was nice to finally meet you too Alan, and from what I've seen you do superb work.  MCACN 2017 is right around the corner.  While I'll be displaying some GM stuff this year I'm also looking forward to seeing some exciting Mopars and rubbing elbows with the Mopar faithful, so for any Ebodies.org folks in attendance please feel free to introduce yourself if we haven't met yet.

- Wade

[Cudino]

One more...

- Wade

[72hemi]

That event was a lot of fun and worth all the work by all to put it together. Absolutely love that purple 71!

[RzeroB]

Our next November car is BS23R0B187950; 1 of only 652 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 368 with an automatic. It is a complete numbers-matching car finished in TX9 Black-Velvet with a H6X9 black vinyl interior. With a SPD of B10, it is a near perfect "10" for the 10th of November. 



From the fender tag we can see that this black beauty was built to run having the A32 4:10 geared Super Performance Dana Axle Package to make it go, B51 Power Disc Brakes to make it stop ... and a C16 Center Console to stash all the pink slips and money you picked up along the way!



Despite this beauty having 49K on the odometer (glad to see that it was actually driven and enjoyed!), the interior of this black beauty was super clean and even had that "new car smell" to it - nice! The only thing missing is the A62 Rallye Gauge Package ... which I always thought strange that it wasn't part of the 'Cuda model like it was with the RT model of the Challenger.



I took this picture at the 2014 MCACN show in Chicago where the car was part of the 426 Hemi 50th Anniversary exhibit. The car won the Nickey Registry "Pick of the Show" Award - yeah, it was that nice!



In 2015 it found itself at RK Motors in Charlotte NC where it was on consignment for $259K. It sold, but if you would like to see the ad and more pics, bang it here to see RKM's ad for the car before it goes away.  https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/1899/1970-plymouth-cuda

[Chryco Psycho]

 

[Brads70]

What a beautiful machine! 

[RzeroB]

The big MCACN (Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals) show is coming up this weekend (Nov 18th & 19th). I've only been to it a couple of times and I must say, it is quite an event with something for everybody. Arguably, it has become an event where a lot of high-profile muscle cars come to be displayed, or make their public debut. This years show is shaping up to be more of the same with another helping of great cars.

One of the cars that is suppose to be there making it's public debut under new ownership is the 1971 HemiCuda BS23R1B202849. It's a very stunning and unique "tri-color" car that stands out in any crowd. But it's also a bit of a "Chameleon" in that in it's past life, one of it's legendary previous owners purposely removed some of it's eye-popping appeal to subdue it some in order to lure in unsuspecting street prey for the kill!

This beauty has recently been written up in HotRod online http://www.hotrod.com/articles/first-look-rare-1-1-billboard-hemi-cuda-resurfaces/ and more recently in Mopar Collector's Guide http://moparcollectorsguide.com/onlinemags/members/allonline/2017/nov2017/index.php?page=30  Both articles are a great read and have a lot more pictures than I could ever post up here so be sure to check them out. Also, the HotRod online article has a great little video in it so make sure you pause long enough to watch it while you are there (If I could have figured out how to copy just the video I would have posted it here for all to see).

Without further ado, here is the "Tri-color" '71 HemiCuda in FE5 Rallye-Red with V1W White Billboards and a V1X Black Vinyl top - absolutely stunning!!



Now owned by Tim (standing) and Curtis (seated in car) Wellborn - they just can't seem to wipe the smiles from their faces now can they!



This beauty is loaded! Leather interior, Track-Pack Pkg, Aero Pkg, Six-Way Seat, Power Windows, AM/FM Stereo and the White Billboards among plenty of other things.    However, did you notice that the Elastomeric front and rear bumpers are not on the tag (A22)?



Roger Gibson "freshened" the car up for the Wellborn brothers and it looks amazing from any angle! 



One of it's previous owners was noted collector of all things Hemi Mr Charles Chesire aka "The Elephant Man". Charles had a huge collection of Hemi cars and parts and was a mainstay of NHOA throughout the '70's and '80's. He bought this HemiCuda to use as a racer and stuffed it full of go-fast goodies. It was Charles who removed the vinyl top because "race cars don't have vinyl tops" and also the white billboards "because you don't want the competition knowing what you are kicking their butts with." Here is Charles with three of his Hemi cars including this 'Cuda ... it doesn't look like it, but yes, that's the same car.



Charles sold the car to Ron Fellwock who's name may sound familiar to many of you. Ron ran one of the early reproduction parts business's for Mopars under his own name "Fellwock's". Ron left the car pretty much the way Charles had set it up and enjoyed it for many years before Curtis Wellborn eventually persuaded him to sell it to him and his brother Tim.  Here is the car just prior to arriving at Roger Gibson's where it underwent it's "freshening" for the Wellborn brothers ... yes, yes, that's the same car.

[Topcat]

Great story!

I totally remember "Fellwock's Mopar Motion"

[anlauto]

Wonder why anybody would add rubber bumpers to a car of that caliber ?

[fc7cuda]

Wonder why anybody would add rubber bumpers to a car of that caliber ?

I seem to remember that the car had a luggage rack on it when Charles got it.  He removed it and put on the wing.  I always thought it was not a J81 car, but I see it on the tag. 

[E74cuda]

Wonder why anybody would add rubber bumpers to a car of that caliber ?

Because they look cool. Just a bolt on.

[fc7cuda]

Wonder why anybody would add rubber bumpers to a car of that caliber ?

Because they look cool. Just a bolt on.

  Either way the car is super cool!! 

[CudaMoparRay]

Definitely unique in that black and white being basic "colors" will match well with anything.

[RzeroB]

Back from the MCACN show and it seems like it was over just as soon as it began - not enough time to take everything in!   

One thing you couldn't miss was the Shaker Invitational sponsored by Tim and Pam Wellborn with their "bookends" prominently displayed on either side of their merchandise display. "Bookends?" Yeah, that's the term I heard used to describe their very similar, pair of '71 HemiCudas - the previously mentioned and recently acquired "tri-color" 4-speed white billboard car; and their long held automatic black billboard car. Although the auto black billboard car is a September build car, I thought that I would post it up here since it is a perfect follow up to the "tri-color" car on the heels of the MCACN show.

     

BS23R1B198029 is 1 only 107 made for the U.S. market, and of those 1 of 48 with an automatic. Like the "tri-color" car, it is finished in FE5 Rallye-Red with a V1X black vinyl top, but has the V6X black billboard stripes and a H6X9 black vinyl interior.



This is a pretty cool pic in the way that it is composed. However, note the Challenger style "426 Hemi" on the Shaker in lieu of the normal Cuda style "hemicuda". Per the Wellborn's, that is how the emblems were when the car was bought back in '87 and they believe that it has always been that way as some kind of a factory anomaly. The theory is very plausible as there are a couple more HemiCuda's other than this one with the same emblem issue.



On display at the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum in Alabama. The car is a real beauty and is equipped with the A22 Elastomeric Front and Rear Bumpers Package, A62 Rallye Gauge Package, A67 Backlight Louver Package, B51 Power Disc Brakes, G36 painted Sport Mirrors, J81 Go-Wing and a R36 AM/FM Cassette with Microphone Radio among other things. This car, together with the "tri-color" car, make for an awe inspiring pair of "bookends" to just about anything!