Each print will be signed and numbered by the artists. Just like the real Talladega, these prints will be available in three colors; Wimbledon White, Royal Maroon and Presidential Blue.

All prints will be available in two sizes 11″x14″ and 16″x20″. An option on the larger print is to have YOUR VIN and DATA PLATE simulation included on the print. This gives you the opportunity to have an artist print of your Talladega in your cars color, signed by the artist AND personalized with YOUR CAR’S VIN and DATA PLATE!!!!! How cool is that?

Watch here for availability, coming very soon!

Technorati Tags: Artist Print, Ford, Talladega

Our friend Tony Allers is mentioned at length for his role in bringing the Fiero back to life and gaining recognition for Smokey’s genius on this vehicle. We also now know that Ralph Johnson worked closely with Smokey on this invention and was actually the man who brought the original concept to life back in the early 50s.

If you car about engines, fuel mileage, political and big business intrigue you owe it to yourself to pick up this issue of Hot Rod and read the article on Smokey. Then go to our page and read the original Hot Rod article plus all of the new info supplied by Tony and some of our readers.

Cool Stuff!

Technorati Tags: fiero, Hot Rod magazine, hot vapor engine, smokey yunick, Tony Allers

On the first of every month I have tried to bring you new information on what cars you will be seeing at the Reunion. This show isn’t just limited to the cars; we will also have some of the Ford and Racing Gurus from the late 60s and early 70s in attendance. There will be Prototypes, Pilot Cars, The First Production Talladega, The Last Production Talladega and, of course, a race car.

This authentic vintage racer is a historic Benny Parsons ARCA car owned by Barry Miller. I have seen this car several times and it never fails to put a smile on my face. This car is not all polished up and smoothed over it is in the same condition these cars raced in back in 69!

It is an actual race car used in the 68/69 Championship season. It is a real Holman and Moody built car with serial number 8 HM-036-S. They constructed it from the Parnelli Jones 1966 H&M Fairlane SN C6HM-10092.

It was the Pole Winner at Daytona in February 1968 at a speed of 179.459 MPH. It led the ARCA 300 for 25 laps until crashing and finishing 22nd. It was one of two Torinos that won eleven races that year.

This is the same car with Benny Parson behind the wheel back-in-the day!

As configured here, it replicates the 1969 Benny Parsons Talladega. It was the very first Talladega under official timing at Daytona in February 1969 and hit over 185 MPH.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Barry will have this car and a lot of memories at the Family Reunion. It will be a very special time to have all of these rare and fantastic cars under one roof for the first time ever. BE THERE!

If you would like more information on the Forge Muscle Car Show or the Talladega Family Reunion simply email your questions to us; Click Here.

If you would like to see more photos and information on this historic Talladega race car, Click Here.

Technorati Tags: family reunion, ford talladega, forge muscle car show, kingsport, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II

If the design is not enough it is power by a 1941 cc OSCA turbine! I walked behind the car as it idled by and the thrust from the big exhaust at even that low speed was like a strong hot summer wind.

These photos were all taken at the 2010 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance where this vehicle was displayed as one of the Motor Trend cover cars. To see more photos and read more about this beauty, Click Here.

Technorati Tags: De Soto, Ghia Gilda Coupe, Ghia Giloa, Giovanni Savonuzzi, Turin

This particular car was shown in 1964 and was powered by the OHC six cylinder engine, certainly not a Corvette killer but the body lines are remarkably similar to the soon to be built 1968 Corvette.

The Banshee was designed by GM executive John DeLorean to compete with Ford’s Mustang. Before it introduction the Mustang prototype was also a two seater.

This is the only Banshee coupe in the world. With its long sweeping hood and short deck styling the 2,200 pound fiberglass body over steel under body is beautiful. If you would like to see more of this car and read more about it, Click here.

Technorati Tags: Banshee, corvette, john delorean, mustang, pontiac, prototype

When you think of mid-engined cars you usually are thinking Lamborghini, Ferrari or some other exotic sports car. I doubt if you are thinking 1948 Norman Timbs Special. However, that is just what this streamlined beauty is. It is a hand formed all aluminum two seater with mid-engined Buick straight eight power.

It is a one off creation that was recently restored and immediately became a class winner at the 2010 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

This photo shows the pre-restoration of the body and chassis. It sat for years in the high desert of California and once was a conversation piece for a small town restaurant.

In its early years it as also a popular subject for any car magazine from Motor Trend to Popular Mechanics. If you want to know more about this beauty Click Here to visit our Featured Car pages.

Technorati Tags: 1948 Buick, Amelia Island Concours de Sport, norman timbs special

The car pulled 250 mph at 7,483 RPM. It also made 697 horse power at the rear wheels while turning 6,216 RPM. It also produced 681 LB FT TQ at 4,025 RPM.

This may look like a race car and it is capable enough but it remains street legal. For this run the mufflers were removed but that’s all.

If you want to see more details on this beautiful Talladega, Click Here.

Technorati Tags: 1969 ford talladega, 250 mph, Boss 429, chassis, dyno, Race Car

The 1956 GM Firebird II is both a design concept and test mule. It is no clay body on four wheels; it is a running concept car. When I spotted it at the Amelia Island Concours in the spring of 2010 it instantly took me back to my days as a kid and Popular Mechanics magazines. It seems every wild haired invention of that time always made it to Popular Mechanics. This particular car was on the cover of Motor Trend another favorite of mine.

This concept car may be pretty over the top but it does include some insight into the future of the 1967 Pontiac Firebird. You have to look closely but there are some clues of what GMs designers wanted to do that in some small way made it into production a decade or so later.

Click Here to see more on this fabulous GM Concept Car.

Technorati Tags: concept car, GM Firebird II, pontiac, Turbine car

Race cars have evolved and improved in speed and safety but the soul of the race car is not as real as it once was. We have collected some photos of old Petty race cars and want to share them with you. We have some other old race car photos on the site and will be adding more as time goes on. Today we have added two very different Petty cars on our Feature Cars section. One is a 57 Oldsmobile and the other is a 69 Torino.

Click here to check out the details on these beauties as well as some other Petty Blue racers.

Technorati Tags: dodge, Ford Torino, NASCAR, Oldsmobile, plymouth, Race Car, Richard Petty

At the time Hollywood was a meca for custom cars. It seems everyone had there own specially modified set of wheels and the wilder the better. Bobby Darin fell in love with a car designed and built by Andy Di Dia. It was built between 1953 and 1960. Bobby bought the car and DROVE it. He and Sandra drove it to the Academy Awards more than once and it appeared in several movies.

Here are some photos of the car as it appeared at the 2010 Amelia Island Concours. It absolutely takes your breath away. To see more of the car, Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee just visit our Feature Car pages.

If you want to read more on this car and see more photos, Click Here.

Technorati Tags: Bobby Darin, concept, Custom, Di Dia 150, dream car, Sandra Dee, show car

Unfortunately, my that time concept cars did not seem to be as wild or radical as they once were. They were becoming more like the custom cars they shared the floor with. Not so in 1951 when GM created the LaSabre with such flair and beauty it sets a standard today in my mind.

Katrina and I encountered this car at the Amelia Island Councourd de’Elegance in 2010 and it was my first opportunity to see this car in person. It was first displayed in 1951! How little does this look like a car that must have been designed in the late 1940s? It has tailfins, hidden headlights, wrap around windshield, bucket seats, and a strong jet fighter influence.

This car is nearly 60 years old! How well do you think one of the current crop of concept cars will look to our grandchildren in the year 2070!

Click Here to see more photos and a video of the 1951 LaSabre concept car from GM.

Technorati Tags: 1951, amelia island con, concept car, concours, GM. Buick, LaSabre, prototype, show car

If you like this arrangement let us know and we might do it for some of the other very special cars on the site.

Technorati Tags: ford talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, muscle cars

This car has been unseen for decades and is now undergoing a complete restoration by Jason Thompson. If you thought all Talladegas were alike you need to see this prototype. If you thought all Talladegas were built early in 1969 you need to see this car that was built in 1968!

We have the first part of the story here on our site and we hope to bring you some restoration photos as it progresses up to show time at the Family Reunion!

For more information on this car Click Here.

Technorati Tags: ford talladega, forge muscle car show, talladega family reunion

However, those prototypes were never intended for sale to the public and usually all were destroyed, used as show cars, or used for safety test crashes. This car was special. Ford presented this car to Bill France.

France took the car and put it on display during Speed Weeks at Daytona and had every driver from the Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona and the motor cycle races autograph the car!

If you want to see more of this Feature Car, Click Here.

Technorati Tags: autograph, Bill France, daytona 500, Ford, NASCAR, prototype, Talladega

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Benny Parsons, Boss 429, Burnout, ford talladega, NASCAR

Rick provided us with some new action photos as well as some dyno sheets on the engine. 725 rear wheel HP get your attention?

Technorati Tags: Benny Parsons, Boss 429, Ford, NASCAR, Talladega

Ramo Stott owned and raced this beauty to the 1970-71 ARCA Championship and it still retains its original sheet metal and is unrestored.

We have just added this historical race car to our Feature Car page and encourage you to take a look, it is a very rare example of a time long gone. Click Here to see the Feature Car page for Ramo’s car.

The video below is a behind the scenes look at Speed TV’s Rutledge Wood interviewing car owner Doug Schellinger at the 40th Reunion of the Aero Cars at Talladega Speedway in 2009.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: ARCA, NASCAR, plymouth, Race Car, Ramo Stott, Superbird

These cars are owned by Steve Honnel of Tennessee and are driven and shown regularly. If you ever get the opportunity to see one or both of these cars make sure you do. They are outstanding and real pieces of history.

Here is a quick video of the two but you will also want to check out the entire page and additional photos on our Feature Car page, Click Here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: aero car, Ford Prototype, King Cobra, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, NASCAR, steve honnel

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

We have also posted a video of the car which you can view below as well as on our feature car page. You will want to see the excellent detail in this car.

Click Here to visit this car.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: 1967 Mustang Fastback, feature cars, floyd garrett muscle car museum

What better time to give our favorite car a little refreshing? What better place to take it than Mark Stacey Restorations just outside our hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee?

The car didn’t need much but we wanted to take the hood and rear tail light panel back to the original dull competition black paint rather than the current gloss black. We also wanted to make the excellent paint job shine a little brighter so decided to have it wet sanded and buffed to perfection. We also added the black stripes that go over the top of the fenders and doors.

The tires and wheels are beautiful on the car but are considered dealer installed options that the factory should have installed on the car but didn’t. The Blue Oval guys decided whitewalls on steel wheels would be the way all Talladegas would leave the factory. For this event and some of the other show duties the car will see we are installing a set of original style wheels but will use BFG White Letter radials to help make the driving chores a little safer. We debated using the correct style pollyglass whitewalls but just don’t thing the whitewall thing is appropriate for a Total Performace car look and besides pollyglass tires are junk on the road. We will also keep the current wheels and tires for the local cruise seen and other fun activities (we just like the way they look way better than Ford’s production style)

To follow our progress on this restoration update just Click Here.

Technorati Tags: 1969, Ford, project cars, restoration, Talladega

One even that is on my “Bucket List” is the Historical Racing Festival in Darlington, SC. Thanks to friends Alan and Elaine Miller I got of glimpse of this years event and you can also get a small hint of what it must be like by visiting our Race Car Page by Clicking Here.

Technorati Tags: ARCA, Darlington, dirt track cars, Historic Racing Festival 2009, NASCAR, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Old School Racing, race cars, USAC

If you think PT hasn’t got some other toys to play with outside of the race cars, think again. How about this?

Technorati Tags: hot rod, paul tracy, rat rod

The Rat Rod Page will be updated every time we find some new Rat Rods we like. We still have a lot of photos to post so there will be more coming all the time.

If you have a rat rod and would like it to be included in our Rat Rod Page email some photos and we will get you on the web. If you have been to a show and seen a great rat rod, take a picture and send it on to us for our collection.

Technorati Tags: Custom, hot rod, rat rod

I have recently visited a number of museums and private car collections and the thought crossed my mind; “If I had the money what would I buy?” It is a very difficult answer because so much depends on how much money you have and what you want to do with the cars. We all have different levels of financial resources and like different cars. Some of us want to drive them others just want to look at them and still others aren’t happy unless they are working on them.

For sometime now there have been Fantasy Pro Sports, Fantasy NASCAR etc. I think it is time for some Fantasy Car Collecting!

So here is the deal. Pretend you have $500,000 dollars from a good pull on a slot machine in Vegas. The taxes are paid and you have a terrific spouse that says buy cars with it. We are also going to assume that you have a place to store them, insurance is not an issue and you can afford the gas.

There are only a couple of rules just to keep it fun. First, you have to buy at least 5 cars and no more than 10. None of the cars can be newer than 1972. You pick the cars and you set the prices, they have to be reasonable but it is understood condition and options make a difference.

Make your list and email them to me at Richard@LegendaryCollectorCars.com. I will post the best ones. I will also try to keep track of the particular cars that are selected most often. If possible I will try to create a list of the readers Top Ten Collector Cars. There is nothing to win just a chance to have some fun and share your ideas with other readers of Legendary Collector Cars blogs. Who knows maybe we can start a Fantasy Used Collector Car Lot on the web and start swapping, buying and selling virtual collector cars!

If you are having trouble getting started, I will kick it off with my own top 10 collector cars for $500,000. My list is based on variety, favorite cars and a desire to have at least one example from every decade from the 1930’s to the 1970’s. The list is in no particular order other than how they popped into my head.

Top Ten Collector Cars for $500,000 By Legendary Collector Cars:

1.  1932 Ford three window, full fender hot rod (California Kid Style); $50,000.

2.  1940 Ford Coupe hot rod, old school hot rod, dropped axel, black with red wheels and chrome centers with trim rings and a hot flat head; $45,000.

3.  1957 Corvette, all original with turquoise and white coves, 4 speed; $75,000.

4.  1967 Mustang Fastback, mild restomod, looks like a GT 350 in black with gold stripes, $40,000.

5. 1970 Z28 Camaro, all stock in Hugger Orange with white stripes and 4 speed, $40,000.

6.  1953 Studebaker coupe, restomod powered by Corvette and painted burgundy, $35,000.

7.  1970 AAR Cuda, all original and painted in yellow, $75,000.

8.  1964 Pontiac GTO tri-power, all original, 4 speed, black, $65,000.

9.  1969 Ford Talladega, the big 428 CJ in Maroon, $55,000.

10.  1936 Ford original dirt track race car converted to street legal use, $20,000.

Total $500,000

Technorati Tags: collector cars, Fantasy Car Collecting, hot rod, muscle car, Top Ten