THINNING THE HERD

Classic car collectors have a lot in common. Passion, love of the brand, and doing their due diligence of research before plunking down a big chunk of change on another rare muscle car. These collectors also have another tendency, to amass a warehouse full of vintage machines that after a while becomes a bit overwhelming, even for the most fervent car guy. With first major Collector Car Auction of 2023 coming up in a few weeks, longtime Mopar enthusiast Gary Edwards felt it was it time to thin his impressive herd of ultra-rare Dodge Daytonas, Plymouth Superbirds, and assortment of valuable and unique HEMI-powered machines at the upcoming MECUM Kissimmee Auction this month at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. “I own 26 muscle cars and keeping them maintained can be a daunting task for my wife Kathy and I. Everything from keeping the tires aired up, batteries charged, and general maintenance can be a lot of work,” noted Gary who grew up around Mopar muscle cars most of his life. “After a while, these cars own you. My wife Kathy and I felt the time was right to sell part of my collection.”

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While most can agree the infamous wing cars built by Chrysler for the NASCAR aero wars were highly visible, their owners past and present have not always kept them in the limelight. Most of the cars from the private collection of Gary and Kathy Edwards coming to Kissimmee are examples that could be termed “unseen.” A handful of them might have made appearances at Mecum events in the past, but even those have since been kept out of sight. Others were purchased privately and have never before been made publicly available to other buyers. While the collection has been an especially rewarding secret to keep, the Edwards have decided to make a majority of this previously undisclosed collection available to Mecum’s customers at the beginning of 2023.

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And what a collection it is. Let’s start off with Gary’s impressive flock of Wing Warriors that have been a part of his private collection and a few of these cars have been out of the public’s sight for years while some have never before been publicly available to other buyers until now. Gary and Kathy Edward also have amassed other iconic Mopars along with unique memorabilia that will soon find new homes. “Our kids also feel it’s time to get our collection down to manageable size but doesn’t mean I won’t checking out other rare and collectable muscle cars at Mecum. I prefer purchasing cars at auction so I can see them up close and give them a good inspection before deciding if I want to bid on a specific vehicle.” But before Gary adds another piece of vintage iron back into his shop, he’s focusing on his cars that are crossing the Mecum’s block within a few days.

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One of the highlighted vehicles from Gary and Kathy’s Mopar collection that’ll be auction at Mecum include a rare 1969 Charger Daytona powered by a 375 horsepower 440 Magnum V8 mated to a four-speed and blazoned in ‘R4 Bright Red’ paint accented by the black wing and stripe, this Daytona checks all the right boxes. The only exception would be there was an elephant residing under the hood in the form of a 426 Street HEMI V8 but regardless, we’d love to go blasting down main street or the back stretch of Talladega in this machine. Especially grabbing gears with that Hurst shifter while sliding around in those vinyl draped bucket seats while rolling on the rare Kelsey-Hayes recall wheels and redline rubber. Like many of the cars in Gary’s collection, this Daytona comes with tons of paperwork including window sticker and broadcast sheet.

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While the wing cars earned their reputation by winning races and breaking records on the NASCAR’s high-banked super speedways, there’s one Daytona the made its bones on the mean streets of LA and at the drag strips that dotted Southern California in the early 1970s. Big Willie Robinson and his wife Tomiko created to National and International Brotherhood of Steet Racers. An organization to help quell the social unrest that was part of the fabric of the late 1960s, especially in numerous Los Angeles neighborhoods by bring car enthusiasts together from every walk of life. Big Willie and Tomiko both owned and raced a pair of Daytonas until they both cars destroyed. That led to the couple purchasing a third Daytona, known as “The Duke and Duchess.” Big Willie and Tomiko raced it until the late 1970s then the car got parked for the next three decades. After going through numerous owners, and having a rough life, the iconic Daytona with a unique history eventually got restored to its ‘as raced condition’ that included first applying the original ‘R4 Bright Red’ paint, then covering shooting with the same shade of Cream applied by Big Willie back in the day.

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No wing car collection would be complete without an example from the orphaned brand Plymouth. Their entry into NASCAR’s aero wars was the Superbird and Gary Edwards is bringing five great examples. If we had to pick one (which is very difficult as three of the five Superbirds are original HEMI cars), we’d go with this stunning Limelight Green HEMI-powered machine.

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This is the ‘Bird’ to own. Of the 1,920 Superbird produced to satisfy NASCAR’s rules makers to make the car eligible for competition, only 135 left the Lynch Road assembly plant with a 426 HEMI under the hood. Break the production numbers down even more, only 58 HEMI powered Superbirds were ordered with a four-speed manual transmission. There’s even more rarity to this Superbird as it was ordered with the optional Rim-Blow steering wheel, an oddity among any Mopar muscle car, especially if it’s powered by a legendary engine that destroyed the competition.

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So, does Gary have any remorse as he’s about to see his babies leave the nest. Luckily it won’t hurt that bad. “I’m a bit nervous about flooding the market with these rare wing cars, especially at no-reserve, but Dana Mecum and his organization are professional, dedicated, and honest. And since I’ve had a great relationship with Mecum over the years, I’m confident the cars will exceed our sales goals,” commented Gary.

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You can catch Gary’s impressive Mopar collection and other rare muscle cars going across Mecum’s auction block on MotorTrend TV/MotorTrend+ and Discovery. Here’s Mecum’s TV schedule so make sure you’re gathered with fellow muscle heads around that 65-inch flat screen TV. Meanwhile, here’s more Mopar eye candy from the Gary Edwards collection!

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