1965 Plymouth A990 Herb McCandless "Mr. 4 Speed" Original

A brash young man named Herb McCandless was tearing up Lakeland Dragstrip in Memphis TN in 1964. In October of 1964, John Moore, an executive with Chrysler, came over to Mr. McCandless one day and asked if he could drive a 4 speed Hemi car. Dad, having no lack of confidence spouted “I can drive a 4 speed anything!” At the time, Dad was racing a 1957 Chevy Wagon with a 409 Z11 setup he had purchased from Dyno Don. That week, Dad was signing papers to order his first factory race car, a Plymouth Belvedere A990. That same car was the only black 4 speed model produced. This 65 was campaigned shortly in Super Stock, winning its class at the 65 Winternationals, but quickly switched to A/FX specs. In the southern part of the country, 3k/lb. heads up rules dominated. In 1965, Dad won 63 out of 71 races he entered with the car. This is the car that started it all.

This is Dad’s original 1965 A990 that we located in March 2018. It was found in a barn in Kentucky where it sat for over 30 years. You can see bits of the original blue paint as you walk around the car. A tribute of this car was made prior to finding the original and is also in the collection.