The North Carolina Find: Mopar
If you have been following the North Carolina Find are a Mopar Nut, you have undoubtedly been waiting with great anticipation for this… The final installment in our multipart story. From our teaser post all the way through the past three posts, people have been asking when they get to see the rare Mopars hiding in this massive collection. With no further ado, here they are in all of their Muscle car glory! So grab some popcorn and prepare for an impressive sight.
What the Mopar section lacks in volume, it makes up in rarity and value. To have just one of these Winged Warriors is a spectacular feat, but having multiples is almost unheard of. We have seen a couple Dodge Charger Daytonas and Plymouth Roadrunner Superbirds found in barns, but never have we seen a barn housing both. When we saw these cars, our first thought was that they must be clones, but we can’t tell for sure from these photos. One of the Daytonas looks like it could be a clone to us, but the others look to be the real deal! We count at least two Daytonas, possible three. How many do you see?
While the Winged Warriors might be the most valuable of the Mopars in this collection, there are plenty of other interesting Mopars worth a look too. Whether your into Pre-War, ’50s, or ’70s Muscle cars, there is bound to be a Dodge/Chrysler product here that piques your interest. Be sure to take a look at the rest in the gallery below and let us know which ones you would like to have! We want to thank Jim C and Alan F for sharing their photos of this great collection with us!
Auctions Ending Soon
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now2 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now2 days$4,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now2 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now4 days$10,500
1974 Datsun 260ZBid Now6 days$460
Comments
I love them all but the winged cars are my favorite!
I am missing something. This isn’t a barn and I can’t find any info on the cars being for sale. Is this just some random pics of a collection?
Hi Curtis! If you look back through the past few posts, you will see we have been doing a feature about this massive collection in North Carolina. The owner has amassed all of these cars and parked them throughout his garages, barns, and sheds. Sadly, none of the cars are currently for sale, that we know of at least. A few readers have been able to get the owner, Billy, to part with some of his cars, but it isn’t a common occurrence. I hope that answers your questions!
Josh
There are more cars still in other sheds, one has just engines and bare blocks along with other parts on one side.
I was just out there a few weeks ago peeking through the windows.
Josh; are you sure this is billy w’s collection as there is another one about 70-85 miles away?
Josh-
Do you know how I can contact them? Or at least what City in NC this is located. Like to talk to them. Making a trip down there and would like to inquire about a visit. Thanks.
You are correct, these aren’t barn finds and are part of a private collection which isn’t for sale. Doesn’t really fit the motif of this site, basically random pictures of a guy’s collection. Still fun to look at though.
What!! No General Lee in the collection!
Where’s Christine?
Billy – Git Er Dun!
I love the Chrysler 300’s… it just looks mean.
STOP! STOP! PLEASE STOP! I just can’t take it anymore!! Just to see SO MANY desirable cars, and to know that I can’t/won’t be able to (AFFORD/BUY) ANY OF THEM IS JUST TOO MUCH!!! :-)
OMG! Two Wayfarer utes from down under!! i am jealous!
For breakfast I will start with the Hemi super bee. Lunch shall be the 440-6 RT Charger. And dinner I will have the red Daytona. No dessert please , I,m full.
Which of the 3 red Daytonas?? You have to be specific man!! LOL ;)
Most of my life I have been mostly a Chevy guy, although I have owned some sweet Mopars and a few Fords and Buicks and Pontiacs……but this guy must be my long lost dad, (I wish), what an incredible collection of cars and trucks….I would love to just walk through and see them, although I like most folks can’t afford them now, just awesome. I am not too far from North Carolina, 60 miles to the nearest border….wow…just amazing…lucky man.
Is their anything this guy doesn’t own? & one can assume the garage this guy has is the size of a football field, eh.
Thanks Josh. The XK150 coupe is pretty sad but one of the best looking cars ever made
I had one in the late 60’s, it was an S, which meant an aluminum hood and trunk lid and the bigger engine, chrome wire wheels (5, even the spare), and it was tremendously fast and tremendously agile. Your rear end was up against the rear axle, arms and legs out straight in front of you. It was also tremendously unreliable, it ran one week out of 4, it left me stranded in all kinds of places, AAA wanted to cancel my membership. I agree that the fixed head coupe was good looking, but at the time it was the least desirable of the three models – roadster (plastic side curtains) and convertible (roll up windows) being the others. I paid $300 for it in 1968 and sold it in 1973 for $300, less one wire wheel, and not running for unknown reasons. Mine was less desirable, but it could have been fixed, because although originally a dark blue it had been repainted a metal flake purple/pink, had a factory installed BorgWarner 3 speed automatic transmission, and not yet terminal rust eating at the underside. But when it ran it was wonderful.
I’m a mustang guy but those are BAD A$$!!!!!
Is that a hemi Daytona?!
technically yes, but didn’t leave the womb that way. L code car. All the daytonas are XX cars. The one with a hemi in it has the non original nose; its current nose came from a NASCAR car (bobby issacs?) of the day…note the flared wheel wells.
thanks to billy for sharing part of his collection. i hope he will allow BFs to do a full story on his life and how he decided which cars he wanted for the collection. it is/has been fun and from todays pictures i will take any of the winged cars.
+1. Would love to hear from Billy. This has been a better long-form series than anything from HBO. I’ll definitely be enjoying the re-run at my own leisure.
You guys are absolutely correct, it’s a collection and not a true “Barn Find”. We toured at least 6 buildings and never saw everything and all the buildings. There was so much to see in the short time we were there. Billy was an absolute gracious host and could tell you something about every car or truck. As I stated in other posts, I was walking around with my mouth wide open saying things like, “God, another Hemi”. The other guys from the club just kept laughing at me, kind of like a country boy visiting New York City for the first time. I’ve seen a lot of cars, trucks, barn finds and field finds in my 67 years, but I can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like this. It was in August 2013 that we visited Billy’s shop and I still get excited talking about it and looking at the pictures.
What is the ute? Moparamino?
What no e bodys??
Thanks guys for sharing this great find. I would be like a kid in a candy store.
no e bodies (though there were) Billy is a big stockcar fan, hence the aero cars
“Ute” is an acronymn for “coupe utility”. They were made in Australia and their version of the ElCamino. Initially, they were on the full size “Royal” platform then moved to the Valiant/Dart platform around 1964. All the Australian aunto manufactureres had their versions of “utes”. I have a 1968 Chrysler VE ute here in Colorado which looks somewhat like a 67 Dart.
Grazie to Jim C for bringing this unique collection to the site. Nattering Nabobs to the contrary! What a treat! And thanks to Josh for featuring it.
I have a completely different take on the owner Billy’s collection. HE’S THE MAN!. Guys like him do fellow car fanatics like us a great service. Every one of those cars, even the ones I don’t like…..survive because of him.
It would just be plain fun to walk among them all and look inside each and every one. I would get the same tingle up my leg as I did the first time at 16 I entered a dark garage and tucked in the back was a 1950 Packard Ultramatic in perfect condition, only twenty years after it was built. Though at the time it seemed like centuries!
So good for you Billy!
This is so frustrating to look at! I just want to go there and wash every one of these cars. Letting them just sit like this for the number of years it would take to accumulate this much dirt kills me.
Now as far as the Daytonas go, I don’t think any of them are clones. The one with the tunnel ram Hemi looks to have been modified in the late 70’s/early 80’s from the choice of wheels and gold valve covers. The thing that tells me it’s probably not a clone is that it has the correct rear window. Someone building a street machine in that time is unlikely to have gone to that length to make a clone. Installation requires a lot of metal work.
see above.
It (and all of them) is an XX car. Factory 440, but has had a hemi since the first owner (records long gone)….”gold” valve covers…..LOL. Rust……Its pretty original other than the horrible buckets out of a new car, and the original nose was swapped for an original NASCAR nose (flared wheel openings, non-op lights, etc)
Ok, so now more than my nipples are hard. I would happily wash any one of these just to stand that close to it. Hell, I would even lick the dirt off if thats what it took. Any way to get Billy to see my generous offer?
If I had the money, and the foresight, I would have saved every one that he chose. Beautys, ever one of them.
(wonder if he will adopt me?)
I have to look in small doses. My mind goes fuzzy with all the thoughts going through it just looking at this collection. No matter what you like, you cannot take away from the fact that this is probably the most desirable gathering of cars ever amassed. I can’t even believe what it would be like to just sit in some of these cars!
I had the distinct pleasure of growing up as a friend of Billy’s building hot rods. I am 71, about a year younger than Billy. Billy’s collection is mind shattering. Billy is one of the most humble, honest people you will ever meet. He has always worked in or owned small body shops. He is about as far from the Barrett Jackson type as you can get. Friends I have taken to Billy’s are all amazed. Billy’s father, in his 90’s, was a school bus mechanic all his life and has an unbelievable wealth of automobile knowledge. He also has an amazing sense of humor. Billy’s wife is an accomplished musician. If you ever get the chance to visit Billy’s, jump on it. You will enjoy Billy and his family as much as the cars. Both are priceless.
As I have looked at each of these collections and the other barn finds over the past year, something was nagging at me and I think I finally have it figured out. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, surrounded by awesome cars just going to the supermarket with my parents, I started figuring out what I liked in a car. Meanwhile, I had my father’s influence on cars, which kindled a real appreciation for cars from the 20-40’s so much so that I could easily identify them at a glance. I subscribed to “Rod Action” and “Rod & Custom” and read every article. My favorite part was the reader sightings, similar to this site, where readers sent in pictures of cars they had found in various states of disrepair but still restorable. My allowance didn’t stretch far enough to save any of them, sad to say. I do remember how the editors looked down upon the “Street Machines”. I suppose to them, a car that didn’t require a few years of loving dedication to restore was just a cookie cutter car. Guys like Billy had the foresight to realize, in the middle of this great generation of cars, that some deserved to put away and stored. Now, here we are at the beginning of the 21st Century, bemoaning our lack of foresight and not stashing one or 2 of these awesome cars when they were still afforable.
So here’s a thought: The kids now in high school have known nothing but triple digit gas prices and mostly cars with 4 and 6 cylinder engines. In 20 years, what cars are they going to be searching for? That’s right, the stuff right under our noses, available for a few grand, or less. There are some great performance cars that are operating under our radar right now. Who will have the knowledge and foresight to squirrel away the best of them for the next generation? What cars do you know of that could become collectible in 20 years? I’m not talking about the current generation of Challengers, Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs/Shelbys. Those will always have high price tags, particularly the better optioned models. I’m talking about the cars that kids are driving and racing now. Cars with decent MPG but some guts too.
I have a solid check book, tried and trusted car trailer and just need a phone number and address. Count me in if they come up for sale.
How do I find out where this is?!?!? I cannot afford but I would probably have a meltdown just walking around enjoying the history! I wanna tour this would-be museum!!! Will anyone share what part of NC? (maybe even a rough hint!!!)
jeff
Jeff; where are you at?
I am also interested where in North Carolina and is it possible to set up a time to visit?
Hey ive known billy about 40 years i stop in and see him abou every 10-15 years
Super nice guy and a true classic himself.
I’d love to get in contact with him. I’m in NC and collect mopars myself
I’m in NC and and an avid mopar collector. Id love to meet up with billy one day and check his out!