40th Aero Warriors Reunion
Tim and Pam Wellborn Estate
A few of you are preparing for the 50th Anniversary of the Aero Warriors battle at the Talladega Speedway in October of 2019. If you are attending or just wishing you were here is a peak at one of the activities from the 40th Reunion. Over the next few months we will be bringing you more of what to expect at the 50th Anniversary.
The 40th Reunion of the Aero Cars kicked off with a wonderful informal car show at the marvelous estate of Tim and Pam Wellborn. Their home, Russwood, was built in 1936 to resemble Mt. Vernon the home of George Washington. It has been one of the most famous landmarks in the Southeast for many years and has been host to politicians and dignitaries from all over the world. On this weekend it was host to some of the most famous muscle cars of the late 60s early 70s.
The Wellborns have added buildings on the estate to include an unbelievable suite of garages and entertainment areas. Their generosity on the day and the next were the highlight of the Reunion for many of the participants. Tim and Pam are car people and have a particular affinity for the MOPAR vehicles but do have a few Fords and GM brands in their collection. Everyone is over the top quality. You can find many of there cars in the book “Art of the Muscle Car“.
This is a rear view of the house with one of the garages on the right.
Just a sample of the lovely home the Wellborns were willing to share with us on this day.
The front of Russwood and the collection of muscle on the front lawn.
The Blue Oval brand and the MOPAR brand shared a lot of space and fun over the weekend. There may have been a few humorous jabs over the weekend but I never heard a discouraging word about anybody’s car or brand all weekend.
Click the link above to view the video.
The black on this Talladega may not be correct but it sure is pretty.
The owner of this number 43 Petty car won it in a Honey Bee contest a few years back.
There were several really nice race cars at the event. This is an original Benny Parsons car.
You don’t have to be driving a Best in Show to have fun at these events. All cars are equal in the eyes of the participants.
This is one of my favorite cars at the event. It is an original Ramo Stott NASCAR and ARCA race car. It has all of its original sheet metal. Ramo tore up the tracks in the mid-west I remember seeing him race a number of times in Iowa with the likes of Ernie Der, Dick Hutchinson and many others.
Tim Wellborn may be a MOPAR man but he knows a good Ford when he sees one. This GT40 would sure look good in my garage but I don’t think Tim is ready to part with it. Besides, my pockets are empty.
Now here is a project car for you. It is an original James Hylton race car.
This is the inside of one of the Wellborn’s garages. Note that this garage is not their Museum. We will cover that in another post.
Note that this beautiful Charger R/T is a sunroof car.
HEMI!
This is one of the most beautiful Dodge Daytonas I have ever seen and it is beautifully restored.
Have you ever seen a Dodge Daytona tow car? This is the second Dodge Daytona that the owner, Joey Machado, has used as a daily driver and tow car. The first one was bought from Joey by Katrina and it now belongs to Joey’s son, Sean!
The other Hemi; Boss 429.
Can you believe a scene like this and it is just a SMALL corner of the entire area!
It was well after dark before the last cars pulled out; how time flies when you are talking cars with remarkable people.
I can only imagine what the 50th Anniversary will be like!
