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Classic muscle never gets old, perhaps that’s why after 70 years, we still crave cars from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. And later this month (October 24-25), you’ll have the chance to bid on some of the finest examples, as RichmondAuctions.com was selected
to auction the unbelievable Tony Townley muscle car collection. This unique mix of cars and art includes many of the rarest and most desirable American muscle cars in existence, along with over 400 pieces of automobilia consisting of artwork, vintage neon signs, gas and oil items, rare advertising, plus tractors, machinery and more.
Here’s a beautiful example of one of the 50 Indy 500 Pace Car edition ’71 Dodge Challenger convertibles. In 1971, four Indianapolis Dodge Dealers came together and supplied 50 Challenger convertibles for the program. Most were equipped with the 318, while a handful featured the 383 two-barrel, 340, and 383 four-barrel. The reason why the Challenger R/T convertible wasn’t chosen was because Dodge discontinued the R/T convertible, even though Plymouth continued the similar ’Cuda convertible. This Challenger was designated as a public relations car and equipped with a 318. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)
Wanting a closer look, we made the trek to Bogart, Georgia, home of the Townley muscle car collection. We spent two days walking through the beautifully crafted barns of the treasure trove of classics with our jaws hanging. You often hear a collection is the “best of the best,” but this one truly checks all the boxes.
There are over 400 vintage pieces like this neon Aztec clock with added Ford Service marquee. It runs and lights as it should. The clock features two colors of neon and presents very well. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)
All Brands Accounted For
Not only will you find real Hemi Mopars, Boss 429 and Shelby Mustangs, lightweight full-size muscle and more vintage neon signs
than you can count, but there’s unrestored winged Mopars, E-bodies, a pair of Batmobiles, and automobilia that will make your brain pop.
Cars are only original once, and so here’s a rare opportunity to own a legit, low-mileage, unrestored 1969 Dodge Daytona (top left). This survivor shows just 3,700 miles. It’s got a numbers-matching 440 backed by a numbers-matching 727 and Dana 60. It comes with factory build sheet, window sticker, and original keys. The Superbird is no slouch, either. If your tastes run to E-body Barracudas, check out this pair of ’71s. The final year of all Street Hemi production, the Curious Yellow ’71 is a great example of the Rapid Transit System. Between its black high-back bucket seats resides Chrysler's exclusive Hurst Pistol Grip shifter sending 425 horsepower to a Dana Sure Grip rear with 4.10 gears. Blue Hemicuda packs a TorqueFlite and looks beautiful without the Billboards.
It’s not every day you see 1960’s General Motors cut-away vehicles — and we spotted two — plus a host of cut-away engines, rearends and transmissions.
Of special interest is a GM-produced 1969 Camaro cut-away display showing the inner workings of a
small-block, and it comes with an entirely separate front clip with a six-cylinder engine. There’s a complete lift-away, midyear Corvette built to showcase the 1965 Sting Ray; next to it was an incased Chevrolet 396/425 hp engine from the 1964 World’s Fair in
New York.
During our visit we got a look at one of two known cutaway promotional cars used by Chevrolet in 1968 on the show circuit. Referred to as the "Double Header" car, it has both a six-cylinder base model frontend and an RS/SS 350 frontend. It also has the important Jerry MacNeish Certificate of Authenticity. A unique feature of this Camaro Cut Away is that it sits on a series of three turntables and could be interchanged to display either version of the car with just the push of a button. The body would raise, the turntables would rotate, and, in short, switch the front ends of the car, changing it from an RS/SS 350 into a six-cylinder base-model car. Much of the control circuitry still remains mounted in the trunk area and behind the front valance panel. The trunk floor is heavily reinforced so that the body would not crack when it was raised for the front clips to be switched. (Photos by Evan J. Smith)
“Richmond Auctions is proud to present the Tony Townley Collection featuring over 100 cars and 400 pieces of advertising history,” said Mike McCandless of Richmond Auctions. “This is a very special auction with a wide range of cars, vintage signs, and
more. There are elegant pre-war offerings like the 1929 Duesenberg and 1930 Cadillac V-16 Sport Phaeton, the flamboyant ’50’s featuring a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air fuel-injected convertible and 1957 Pontiac Bonneville fuel-injected convertible, and a
staggering number of incredible muscle cars, including 1965 Shelby GT350, 1969 Yenko Camaro, 1969 unrestored low mileage Charger Daytona, 1969 Pontiac Firebird convertible Ram Air four-speed, 1970 unrestored, low-mileage 440-6, 4-speed Superbird,
a 1971 Hemi 4-speed Cuda, and the list goes on and on,” McCandless added.
The peak of the muscle car era was well represented with Ford Motor Company offerings, including a Grabber Blue Boss 429, a 428 Super Cobra Jet Mach 1 with the Drag Pak and 4.30 gears, and this ultra rare (1-of-196 Boss 302-powered Cougar Eliminator. (Photos by Evan J. Smith)
The collection is seemingly never-ending, with items we predict will hit a wide range of price points. And with over 400 pieces to choose from, there’s something for everyone.
Plenty of killer GM muscle machines will go across the block. There's a 1-of-18 Ram Air IV ’69 Firebird convertible, a 1-of-43 ’70 Buick GS455 Stage 1 four-speed hardtop, a Yenko 427 COPO Camaro, and the one-year-only 1970 Yenko Deuce, an LT-1-powered Nova.
More Than Just Muscle Cars
Okay, maybe a real Hemicuda isn’t in your budget, but you can look at the oil cans, vintage artwork, signs and other fun things to brighten your space. Since we took the trip, we snapped a lot of photos, so enjoy our gallery, or head to RichmondAuctions.com to see all the lots.
Two ends of the new car buying spectrum in 1970: The bare-bones Falcon with a 429 Super Cobra Jet, a stick and not much else (this one has a rubber mat instead of carpeting) or the Shelby GT500 convertible with the 428 SCJ, four-speed and 4.30 gears. Or you could just go used and pick up a 1962 Impala lightweight 409 with aluminum body panels. (Photos by Evan Smith)
Keep your eyes on StreetMuscleMag.com after the auction because we’ll be putting a follow-up article on the results! Stay tuned.
