I finally found the ever-elusive 62-64 small block push****on 727 of my dreams for my 33 Plymouth coupe,and it was in Florida. Not only in Florida,but the guy didn't want to ship it. This means I had to drive to Florida or wait who knows how long to find another one. After a year of looking,I decided to just go get it. Especially since it was a good trans in a car the guy had been driving,and he said I could get the trans,dashboard pod,push ****on controls,cables,torque convertor,flexplate,and starter for $150. To sweeten the deal,he threw in the driveshaft and 62 Dart 8-3/4 rear for another 100 bucks. I have been wanting to go to the museum for years now,but was never down that way. Since I had to p*** right through Ocala to pick up the trans,this was the perfect excuse for a road trip. Being a AA Fuel champ,it's not surprising that the main focus of the museum is on rails. I never really identifed with or had any interest in rails. My mail focus was on the g***er coupes,sedans,and roadsters. Believe it or not,but they have Ohio George Montgomery's baby blue 34 Ford coupe "street car" there that still has the original blown Caddy engine and B&M hydro in it. This was basically a detuned version of the engine in his NHRA record holding 33 Willy coupe. There is no way in hell that car should still exist. It should have been beaten to death and eventually humiliated by some bozo putting a SBC in it before wrecking it or sending the body off to be chrome plated. That didn't happen,though. Montgomery sold it to another guy,and when Gartlits tracked it down 19 years later,it was still sitting in the guys garage and had never even been outside. They had to repaint the front fenders and hood,and that was it. I am ***uming this was from sun damage to the paint from sitting parked. They also have the K.S.Pitmann Willys coupe there,and a really beautiful C/GS coupe that built,driven,and maintained by a chick. She was a NHRA record holder with that car. The Bean Bandit is there,too. So are a bunch of other 50's and 60's drag and street cars,including TV Tommy Ivo's dual nailhead head dragster,the old 554 coupe,and the first "funny car" I ever remember seeing,the radically chopped fibergl*** "flip front" 34 Ford tudor with the 12 cylinder Allison P-40 fighter plane engine. Something I really found interesting were the Smokey Yunick displays. Smokey built his own dyno,and it is believed to be the first one used in NASCAR. There is also a blueprinted "stock" 425 nailhead Buick engine there that Smokey built that put out 600 HP with a single 4brl and cast iron intake. Not to mention the octane tester he built to make sure his "pump gas" was up to specs. That Smokey sure was one smart dude! Not only were the cars and displays cool,but all the staff were very friendly and informed. One of them spotted the push-****on 727 and the Dart rear laying in my trailer out in the parking lot,and tried to turn me on to the HAMB. He is a member here,but being the airhead that I am,I forgot to get his screen name. Young guy with a A roadster pu with a 273 Mopar in it and a interest in Mopars in general. Nice guy. The only complaint I have about the place is a display of rifles where they identify a sporterized Winchester as "a sniper rifle like the one that killed Kennedy". They also have a sporterized 98 Mauser identified as a "German sniper rifle". They are nothing but deer rifles,and that's it. Still,I highly recommend this as a stop to anybody traveling through the area. Just make sure you have plenty of time. It took me over 3 hours to see it all,and even then I rushed a little more than I wanted. Admission is $15,$13 for seniors. Given today's money value,I think it is a bargain at that price.
The museum is awesome....If you do a quick search on here you will find a ton of pictures from there.
I have some ****py pictures I took in June when me and the wife went on a motorcycle trip down there. Here's a couple:
I've been told by a friend that the shop and storage rooms would blow your mind. There's 2x more stuff on shelves than on the museam floor. That place is east coast heaven on earth.
Now that you know where the museum is, remember to come back on March 21, 09 for BilletProof Florida 2. The blue Willys you referred to belongs to Barbara Hamilton. Story goes is that her and a female roommate built the car. I believe she was one of, if not the first, woman to be issued an NHRA compe***ion license. She is a very nice lady and usually shows up at various g***er style shows. It is truly an amazing museum and every time you go, you see more that you missed before.
hey Arthur; ======================================= They also have the K.S.Pitmann Willys coupe there,and a really beautiful C/GS coupe that built,driven,and maintained by a chick. She was a NHRA record holder with that car. ====================================== That's not just an ordinary ole gal,that's Barb Hamilton's car... First lady to have a Supercharge g***er license ,and one of the first ladies to have sucess racin' NHRA National events.. having met her ,she's a nice lady as well.. Oh, she has a second willys coupe and tools around in a new 'vette.. Maintained by a "chick" hardly explains what Barb accomplished in her racing career.. 1939fiat
The car he has that really does it for me is the 554 Mooneyham/Sharpe 34! Can't think of anything else that make me get goosebumps like that car...
did ya notice HOW many 40 Ford coupes are in that place?...seemed like there was one in every corner.. 1939fiat
Don loves 40's. Love that place been there a few times and always find new stuff that I missed on the previous trip.
I've been there about 8 times over the years, I'm in Gainesville this week so I went again on Monday, It's always been a great display and I've always enjoyed it and actually still do but I kinda feel like Big Daddy needs to give the place a little bit of a face lift or rearrange the displays... I noticed that several cars had flat tires and so many of the cars in the back room were crammed together. Don't get me wrong I'd pay to see it again. He should consider adding a walk through in the back rooms as part of the Museum so you can see some of the rare stuff that's on the shelves.
i went there for the first time during billetproof. it was cool. i didnt know garlits had so many swamprats.
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