Dodge Viper R/T 10

1971 Richard Petty Road Runner tribute.

This car is a tribute to the 1971 Plymouth Road Runner driven by Richard Petty during the 1971 NASCAR season. Richard Petty competed in 48 races that year and managed to win 21 of them.

1970 Plymouth "Rainbow" Superbird.

I've seen this car at previous events. The multitude of colors represents the 7 available Superbird colors in 1970. I'm pretty sure this is a Superbird tribute. But I'm not completely sure.

Since I was nearby, I walked into the infield to check out the Logano trucks. This Rat Rod truck has the name "Logano Fuel & Service, Middletown, CT" on its door. My guess is that this is a reference to NASCAR driver Joey Logano, who just happens to be from Middletown, CT.

Both the "Mack Daddy" B-body Mack and the Mack EE/EF Series truck on the trailer were lettered with the name Logano as well.

A Ford GT was parked in front of the trucks this afternoon.

A total of 4,038 Ford GTs were produced for 2005 and 2006, making this car extremely rare.

The National DeSoto club display added a few more cars since this morning.

National DeSoto club.

1960 DeSoto Fireflite.

Power comes from DeSoto's "Turboflash" version of the Mopar 361 CID "B" V8 that makes 295 hp.

This absolutely stunning 1960 Fireflite coupe is one of my favorites from the showfield. Since production of the 1961 models lasted only until late November 1960 before DeSoto disappeared, this 1960 model is from the last full model year of DeSoto's existence. This is a very rare car, being one of 3,494 made that year.

More beautiful DeSotos: 1957 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman.(L), 1959 DeSoto Firedome Seville (R).

1957 DeSoto Fireflite Sportsman hardtop coupe.

Power comes from a 341 CID "Fire Dome" Hemi V8 that makes 295 hp. This is a very rare car, being one of 7,217 made that year.

By this time, a lot of the car clubs had left for the day. Such was the case of the two Mustang Cobras seen in the photo above. These two were the only remaining Cobras from the SVT Cobra Mustang club display.

Queen City Corvair club.

Up next was the Harrisburg Cruisers. The name "Harrisburg" is a reference to Harrisburg, North Carolina two miles down the road.

"Casper's Last Ride" custom Chevrolet Van.

1955 Pontiac Custom Safari wagon.

This was Pontiac's version of the Chevrolet Nomad wagon. Both cars shared GM's A-Body chassis and are quite rare, with the Pontiac being the more scarce of the two, (Chevrolet sold 8,386 Nomads compared to Pontiac's 3,760 Custom Safaris).

I didn't get the name of this club. But it featured a variety of modified mostly foreign late-model cars.

The Dodge Challenger seen in the photo above was the only domestic car in the bunch.

Next was the Carolina Galaxies club.

1959 Ford Galaxie.

A beautiful 1959 Ford Galaxie.

1961 Ford Galaxie Starliner hardtop coupe.

The Starliner was Ford's version of Chevrolet's "Bubble Top" hardtop coupe with no B-pillar and a very thin C-pillar.

1966 Ford Galaxie 500 hardtop coupe.

It looks like Mr. Gill went to Young Motor Company in Charlotte and traded his 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 in on this new 1966 Galaxie back in August 1966.

Apparently, he only got $100 for his trade.

It looks like Young Motor Company still exists today as Capital Ford, which is roughly 15 minutes away.

Behind the Galaxie club was the Classic Fords of the Carolinas club.

1963 Ford Falcon .

1963 Ford Galaxie 500 hardtop coupe.

The Galaxie was a very popular car back in the day. This 2-door hardtop was one of 49,733 made that year.

1969 Cyclone Spoiler, Cale Yarborough edition.

For 1969, Ford offered two commemorative editions of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler that was winning races on NASCAR tracks across the country. One car was painted Wimbledon White with Presidential Blue accents for Dan Gurney, and the other was painted Wimbledon White with Candy Apple Red accents for Cale Yarborough, (seen in the photo above).

Both Cyclone Spoiler versions are very rare. A total of 352 Dan Gurney cars and 617 Cale Yarborough cars were produced. This car is not to be confused with the Cyclone Spoiler II, which we'll see in a few minutes.

Up next was the Full Throttle Stangs.

1985 Ford Mustang GT convertible.

The GT was offered in two versions. Automatic transmission cars were fitted with a fuel injected 5.0L that made 180 hp. Manual transmission cars got the carbureted H.O. engine that made 210 hp. This was the last year for the carbureted H.O. engine. Everything would be fuel injected beginning in 1986.

Full Throttle Stangs.

Full Throttle Stangs.

My visit to the Charlotte Auto Fair was coming to an end. On my way out of the speedway, I stopped to check out a few more race cars sitting behind the Showcase Pavilion.

1969 Cyclone Spoiler II, Cale Yarborough edition.

I just looked at a rare Cyclone Spoiler Cale Yarborough edition a few minutes ago. Now I find an even more rare Cyclone Spoiler II Cale Yarborough edition. The Cyclone Spoiler was fitted with a more aerodynamic front end. A total of 503 were supposedly produced, 218 Dan Gurney cars and 285 Cale Yarborough cars. I say "supposedly" because stories have recently surfaced that indicate only 351 cars were produced. Either way, this is an extremely rare car.

And with that, my visit to the spring Auto Fair had ended. I don't know how many miles I walked over the last two days. But my legs were telling me that it was more than a few.

Time to head home. I've really come to enjoy this event and look forward to the next one.