Look Who Will be at Keeneland Concours d’Elegance 2014; Part 1
We recently announced that there will be a 45th Anniversary Ford Aero Car Celebration at the Keeneland Concours d’Elegance in Lexington KY this July 19, 2014. This will be a Talladega Family Reunion event and everyone is invited but only the selected invited cars are permitted to be part of the official display and those spots are all filled. If you want to be part of this event you can still attend and bring your Ford/Mercury Aero Car to a special Coral style parking are. Please let me know well ahead of time. You may also want to stay at our groups hotel. Most of us will be staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Lexington Keeneland Airport by Marriott at 3050 Lakecrest Circle, Lexington, KY 40513. Phone 859-224-3338. Because the hotel will sell out I encourage you to book early. Rates are $119 or $114 with AAA membership.
The first car we are announcing is the last production Talladega built. It is the Royal Maroon Dega owned by James Myers of Andrews, Texas. Here is the information that will appear on the Meyers’ display plaque.
This is the last production Talladega built of approximately 754 produced in 1969. The exact number is in question, but the estimates generally range from 745 to 754. The window sticker price for this vehicle was $3762.35 that included $61.40 for an AM radio. All production Talladega’s were offered only with 428 CJ engines, external oil cooler, staggered rear shocks, heavy duty C6 transmission, front disc brakes, power steering along with the special Talladega modifications made at the Atlanta factory. These modifications included a 5” front extension, rocker panels rolled 1.5”, special front bumper and hidden truck parking lights. Three colors were available including Wimbleton white, Royal maroon and Presidential blue but all interiors were black with bench seats. An unusual feature about this car is the “T” decal above the door handles instead of the more common molded “T”. Apparently the factory ran out of the molded “T” emblem at the end of the production run so had the decals made to complete the run. Another difference is the aluminum valve covers as most Talladega’s were equipped with chrome valve covers. The change was due to a midyear change to the aluminum covers for the 428 CJ engine.
