Photo by David Newhardt, courtesy Mecum Auctions.
A lot can happen in 10 years. When muscle car collector and museum founder Tim Wellborn spoke with Hemmings Muscle Machines for a profile on him in 2005, he said he’d owned many of his cars for decades and didn’t much care about their values because he wasn’t interested in selling them. These days, though, he’s probably a little more concerned with what they’re worth, given that he recently committed about half of his collection to auction.
Photo by Craig Fitzgerald.
“I’ve really always considered myself just the caretaker of these cars, and now it’s time to let someone else take on that role,” Wellborn said in a press release announcing the sale. “It’s tough to let go, but… it’s just time.”
As Wellborn told the story, his passion for muscle cars began when his father ordered a 440-powered Butterscotch 1971 Dodge Charger new, and though Wellborn wasn’t yet old enough to drive the car, he pestered the dealer for the car’s delivery date over the next few months and washed and waxed it often once it arrived. Unsurprisingly, once he grew old enough to start purchasing muscle cars of his own, he gravitated to the 1971 Dodge Charger and has since assembled a collection of muscle cars that largely focuses on that year, make, and model, with examples in just about every color, drivetrain combination, and trim level available.
While Welborn packed a couple of garages on his property with his cars – including a custom-built structure patterned after the English carriage houses he saw in England while visiting the country with his Bobby Isaac 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona – he also bought a former Chevrolet dealership in his hometown of Alexander City, Alabama, to house the Wellborn Musclecar Museum. Since opening the museum in 2010, Wellborn has hosted a number of events there, including a 40th anniversary celebration for the 1971 Dodge Charger and an all-muscle invitational show. According to a recent post on the museum’s website, the 45th Aero Warriors Reunion, which was scheduled to take place at the museum, has been postponed due to Wellborn’s health.
According to Mecum’s announcement of the sale, this doesn’t mean the end of the Wellborn Musclecar Museum. “The goal here is really to make room to continue rotating the museum inventory,” he said. “Space is limited, so we can’t just keep adding to the current group of cars, and we want to keep the muscle car displays fresh.”
Of the 23 vehicles consigned with Mecum for its Kissimmee auction next January, eight are 1971 Dodge Chargers or Super Bees, including serial number 00023, a pilot-line Hemi Charger; serial number 90774, which Wellborn believes to be the last Hemi Charger built (the owner of another 1971 Hemi Charger, serial number 92238, has also laid claim to having the last Hemi Charger built); a Hemi Super Bee that served as Motor Trend‘s test car; and serial number 02617, the Hemi Super Bee that Eldon Palmer drove to and from the 1971 Indianapolis 500.
1966 Ford N-500 flatbed from the Wellborn Musclecar Museum collection. Photo courtesy Mecum Auctions.
Other vehicles from Wellborn’s collection going up for sale include a 1978 Pontiac Firebird reportedly used in The Rockford Files; a pair of 1969 Dodge Daytonas, including a Hemi four-speed example and the only one with special-order paint (Omaha Orange); a Boss 429 Mustang; an unrestored and LS6-powered 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454; and an unrestored 1966 Ford N-500 flatbed truck used by Shelby American as a race car transporter and that sold at RM’s Arizona sale in 2008 for $66,000.
Mecum’s Kissimmee auction will take place January 16-25 at Osceola Heritage Park. For more information, visit Mecum.com.
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