Our 2016 Talladega Spoiler Family Reunion really kicked off on Thursday night at the host hotel, Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Those who attended the Reunion were:
Hosts: Dick and Katrina Fleener;TN
Dave and Shirley Moots;WI
Mark Shilladay; NH
Carl, Patti Sharp and Sharp Sr.;IN
Barry & Johnathon Miller; IN
Mark Hines; AZ
Guest Speaker: Kenny Troutt;TN
Sherri Peddicord and Bill;IL
Tom Wilson;GA
Alan Miller;SC
Darrel and Patti Livingston;MI
John and Patty Hollins; VA
Eddie Mc Donald; TN
Tom & Carol Kau;WI
Thursday evening included a brief welcome, introductions and review of the schedule for the Reunion. We also handed out “Goody Bags” for every one to help them get through the weekend. It was very rewarding to see so many new faces that had never attended a Talladega Spoiler Family Reunion before. By the time the Thursday night activity was over everyone felt comfortable and we started off on Friday like old friends.
Day One of the 2016 Talladega Spoiler Family Reunion was a busy one. We began the day with a brief early driver’s meeting and off we went. The weather was very hot and our destination had significant traffic so many opted to drive their tow car rather than their classic.
Our drive of approximately 45 minutes took us through some typical rolling Tennessee country side with a little bit of freeway driving. Our first destination was the 200+ car collection of Copart owner, Willis Johnson. The Johnson property is the former residence of country music star, Alan Jackson. Alan had a nice but small area for his collection so Willis modified a former gymnasium into a car barn and built a new gigantic building for the larger part of his collection. We were greeted by a friend of Willis who opened the building and gave us a free run of the entire collection. There is no easy way to describe what we saw but maybe these photos and captions will in some small way give you a hint of our experience.
The home.
One of the smaller garages.
This is a horse barn of the property.
Inside we were greeted by a full size functional diner.
I did not count the table and chairs but it is far larger than any diner I have been in.
The scope of the building and the number of cars simply takes your breath away.
This Bently was one of the first cars to pull me in. It is Viper powered.
Every where you look there is more than you could see. We spent over an hour in the building but if you stopped to look at every car in detail you would need at least one full day.
One wall of the building is a diorama of a small town shops.
This Torino was one of the most original cars in the building.
The gas pumps were as well restored as the cars.
A functional office inside a gas station inside the museum.
There was a row of restored but tweaked parking meters.
Katrina took her opportunity to have a picture with “Willie”.
There is row after row of beautiful cars.
There did not seem to be an obvious prejudice towards anyone make. Here is a row of Fords.
Inside the store fronts were detailed murals that made the buildings appear real.
The Continental’s new interior.
This classic Continental was a custom on a car that was a factory hand built car.
More of the Shelby.
This modern (when built) Mustang looks all the part of a 1969-70 Shelby. This is a Shelby build and was a prototype of things to come but did not happen.
Most collections focus on restorations or original cars with a few customs and hot rods tossed in for interest. The Willis collection in this building is nearly 100% modified cars. Some are very minor modifications while other are extremely radical.
This Impala got everyone’s attention. It was beautiful but not right. It has a vintage Dodge top that looks right at home!
The collection is large but features almost exclusively vehicles from the 50 through the early 70s. However, there are hot rods and restomods.
The diner.
As this photo suggest Willis has a sense of humor and there is more to see than just cars and trucks.
The hot rods are just outstanding.
As we moved on from the large collection we actually had to drive because it was too far to walk!. This is another view of the home.
This is the home as seen from the garage.
The murals on the end of the building are very touching and patriotic.
This is the gym garage when Alan Jackson owned the property.
This miniature work truck really intrigued me.
This Dual Ghia was a real through back to the 50s. Although its ownership was not been verified such celebrities as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis JR and Frank Sinatra once owned such cars.
How about an Imperial with a working record player?
Here is another look at the Cad.
This Cadillac has to be one of my top cars in the building.
i also really like 1957 Buicks and a convertible in great colors, what more could you want?
This Imperial was beyond words.
I love De Sotos and there were multiples I could love.
The second and third buildings contained his Corvette collection and his 1957 collection. Not all the cars were from 1957 but most were. If they weren’t a 57 they were a 56.
All of the cars in this building were convertibles. This Lincoln is great.
After two hours of drooling over all the wonderful cars we again hit the road for a short drive to Puckett’s Restaurant in Leiper’s Fork TN. The food was great and the service outstanding.
The food and hospitality of Puckett’s was outstanding and provided a real taste of down home Tennessee.Everyone seemed to enjoy discussing the cars they had just inspected at the Willis Collection but all were eager to get back to their own classics for the weekend.When are lunch break was over some went shopping, others to their hotel to rest while still others visited Civil War locations of interest. But there were those hard core enthusiasts who stayed with us and followed us back to our home and began searching through our stash of parts for things they needed. Almost everyone was successful. This would also turn into one of the big activities for Saturday.
After a terrific lunch we broke into smaller groups. Some were off to visit Civil War sites, some to shop for antiques, others back to the hotel for rest and some hardy soles headed over to our house and garages for parts swapping. This activity was also a favorite pastime on Saturday.
In the early evening we all got back together for dinner at the Chop House in Murfreesboro TN. The meal was great but the conversations with fellow Talladega Spoiler Family members was even better. We called it an early evening because Saturday was going to start early and last long.
Some of my first and strongest memories from my childhood relate to cars. I still remember when things happened based on what car I was driving at the time. I grew up and lived in Iowa for nearly 40 years before moving to Southern California and now live in Tennessee. I was a Corvette fanatic for years but then re-discovered vintage American Muscle. My wife, Katrina, and I decided we wanted to focus on unique and rare muscle cars. After a lot of research we fell in love with the Ford Blue Oval Aero Cars. These were only built in 1969 and and aerodynamics became an important part of winning races. The only purpose of these limited production cars was to win NASCAR races using the Boss 429 and 427 power plants complimented with a special, wind cheating, aerodynamic body. The Ford Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II are terrific and historic cars. This site is devoted to these car and their owners past and present. We provide an Online Registry for recording the long term history and ownership of every remaining Talladega, Spoiler and Spoiler II.
