Went to a car show today.

This morning my Sons Don and Dan, Don's GF Taylor, and I went to a little car show that was being held at Rick Treworgy's Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Fl. We took Dons and my T's. The thing that attracted us to this show was that they did it smart.........only from 9 am to 1 pm (to beat the heat and rain in the pm) and Don had been to the museum a few weeks ago and said we had to see it.

This guy, Rick Treworgy, makes the rest of us who think we have too many cars look like beginners. His collection has been posted on the internet before, and it got so big (200+ cars) that he bought an old WalMart building and opened a museum that is unbelievable. He pretty much likes GM products, and has so many cars from primarily the 60's-70's that you can find just about every model Chevy, Pontiac, and Olds built in that era. He also has row after row of cars from the 20's, 30,s, and 40's, but I think muscle cars are his first love.

90% or more of his cars are 4 speeds and most are big blocks. I saw so many 409/425 hp cars and tripower Olds 442's that you didn't know which one you wanted to take home. He even has a brand new ZR1 Vette and a 53 Vette that his one employee said was worth more than the ZR1.

Being me, a guy who will walk up and talk to anything that is breathing :D, I saw a guy on a golf cart who looked like he might own the place, so I asked him if this was his collection. It was Rick, and he was a super nice guy, and said of all his investments this is the one that makes him smile. Made me smile too. :) He also has a restaurant and speed shop as part of the museum and the prices are really low. I am going to start buying some parts from them as they are only about 45 minutes from home and I like to support a local guy when I can.

I didn't take any pictures, but here is a link to his site:

http://www.musclecarcity.net/

If any of you are ever in the Port Charlotte/ Punta Gorda area do yourself a favor and take a side trip to his museum. It ranks right up there with Don Garlits place as being jaw droppers. I have never seen so many mint GM muscle cars of every description in one place in my life.


Don

hey that sounds good i may take a trip to port charlotte very soon i have some customers there i do work for . if i do a trip i have to check that out

Pat, if you are driving also hit Garlits Museum in Ocala. It is only a minute off of I 75 and you would go nuts seeing all the stuff he has there. Crates of new hemis, flatheads, rare speed stuff, and every old drag car we grew up seeing in the magazines. I had driven by it for 25 years and never stopped, but we did finally go there and I can't wait to go back.

You will also love this one in Punta Gorda. Being a big block guy it will make you drool.:)

Don

PS, if you are going to be in the area for a little while, PM me. I'd love to have lunch with you.

Pops is right, Awesome place with so many big block cars and 4 speeds you will drool. Here are some pics. Don Jr.:)

Very cool! Great photos Don Jr. Looks like he's got multiples of lots of the classics! Gotta love the Bud Boat too!

More Pics!

More Pics!

Some more pics!

Some Last pics. many many more cars there. These pics dont do the place justice. Don Jr.

Thanks Don for posting those. The size of this place and the collection are mind boggling. It was an old WalMart (99,000 sq feet) and there isn't a lot of room to get more cars in. He has them arranged by types for the most part, and every car is drivable, and most have battery tenders on them to keep them ready for use. Most also have current Florida license plates on them.

The other thing that is hard to fathom is that this is ONE MAN'S private collection. He can't be making any money on this museum and probably just does it for fun and maybe some tax writeoffs for his other investments. You could not run enough people through there at $ 12.50 a head to even pay his air conditioning and light bill. :) I'd just be happy if I had what he pays out per month for electric.

The collection is pretty diverse, as far as body styles. While he gravitates toward GM mainly, lots of his cars are big sedans that just happen to have two or three carbs under the hood and Hurst shifted four speeds. Fun place to visit.

Don

Wow what a nice selection of muscle cars. It looks like a really nice museum.
Very nice.

Richard

Daaaaaaaaaang...........

That is just incredible!! "Daaaaaaaaang" was my first thought too!

Awesome photos guys. Thanks Don Jr and Pops Donfor the story and photos. I think I noticed a Willys coupe behind the No 5 Corvette which it self would of been a contrast to all the other mighty cars in his collection.

Whiplash 23t,
Yes a real cool willys coupe. I will post a pic in the morning for you. I have a much better excuse at home for my few cars I own. I just tell her.......Hey... that guy had over 200 cars!!! :LOL::LOL::LOL::cool:

Yep, he does have a few cars in there that deviate from his GM fascination. That Willys is one, and the 4 x 4 Jeepster next to it is kind of a quirky one. He also has an old motorhome that I think someone hand built, mostly out of wood. It is really neat and looks like it would be a cool ride to take cross country. There are a couple of other oddities, like the Miss Budweiser boat and the grand prix type car that was used in the Charlies Angels movie.

He also collects old signs, ice chests, pedal cars, and stuff like that. Everywhere you look there are neat old things.

Don

Man I love that old black trans am with the gold eagle on the hood! Those cars bring back many high school memories!:D

That one is also a four speed, Steve. I would think most of them were automatics, so this one is probably somewhat rare. It may also have been a ram air, but not sure about that. Quite a few of his cars are ram airs, and very few are automatics. I've never seen so many Hurst shifters in one place in my life. :D

Don

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

That one is also a four speed, Steve. I would think most of them were automatics, so this one is probably somewhat rare. It may also have been a ram air, but not sure about that. Quite a few of his cars are ram airs, and very few are automatics. I've never seen so many Hurst shifters in one place in my life. :D

Don

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yep they only came with the 400 with the four speed .and 4 wheel disc brakes.we did have the 1980 with the olds engine and the HD handling pack with auto only did not hold up good we went thru two trans with this car with the olds engine .t tops yellow no flaming chicken car was fun .i wanted the car was going to get the car was my moms but they wanted more to insure the T/A then my GTO with a hot 396 in it ? they told me the T/A was a muscle car :LOL: i think. i may know the guy and were the bud boat was built :D

A shot of the Willys and the motorhome. Too Cool!:cool:

Nice to see it with full '40 trim and grille.....looks better to me than '41............really hate those three spoke wheels though.

Wow......I mean wow! What a nice collection! They both are super cool. I'd love the old motorhome. Talk about style! They Willys is super cool too.

Thanks for the pix,Don[jr],thats an amazing collection,,totally amazing..Now we know why the price of these things has gone up so much...He has most of them...:LOL::LOL:

Glad to share the pics! I thought I posted these pics of the black trans Am Interior. Just seeing these seats made me want to drive to Alaska and back! And it was a cool 4 speed!

I agree with Uncle Bob about the wheels,they seem to take something away from the car. I hope it had a hemi in it. Thanks for the photos Don Jr., now can you pack that gorgeous young lady into the Willys and air freight both to me ASAP please.;);)
I wonder if the camper was factory build or someones home handyman work??
Again thanks guys for the photos...oh by the way...What is the young ladies name so I know when she is delivered here???:LOL:

Whiplash T,
Ha! That is my girlfriend taylor.....................As I tell every guy that hits on her....If you can afford her you can have her!:LOL::cool:

Along with the Willy's and Taylor coming your way expect 400 other packages full of shoes, purses, dresses, clothes, hats! :D:D:D:eek:

I have attached a picture of her current closet to help your decision:LOL:

Yes the Wheels on the Willys were not my favorite either. They were probably in style It seemed like the motorhome was custom made as the woodwork was out of this world detailed.

We went back to that museum Sunday, but not inside. They have a swap meet in the parking lot the last Sunday of the month and we wanted to check it out. It was actually pretty big, we thought it might be 3 guys selling crafts but it was actually a lot of neat car stuff. Don loaded up on tools (two of the biggest gear pullers I have ever seen :eek:) and I bought a 5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine for my minibike. :o:D We are going to go back at the one coming up the end of September and sell off some of our unneeded stuff.

Don

Second throughts now Don Jr., I think you can keep her as I think I would have to empty the garage out to enable her stuff somewhere to be stored.:HMMM: She is very attractive young lady though and Taylor is a neat name. My young niece has just given birth to a beautiful baby girl whom she has named Taylor so our Taylor will be in excellent company with your Taylor.:D

Taylor is a neat name. Congrats on the new addition to your family!!:):)

She has a thing for shoes like I have a thing for car parts!!!:cool::cool:

Don jr.

Don't you wish you could've taken just one of those cars home with you!:D
Taylor looks like she might be Italian? How are you guys enjoying the boat after all the work you put into it?

Hey Stovens,
Taylor is indeed Italian and that explains my expanding waistline! She is a great cook :D

She has a 6 year old daugter that is the spitting image of Taylor (like mini me) :LOL:

Too funny.

Ahhhh the boat, like my hot rods a constant pain in the butt. We put one new engine in the port side as you may remember from earlier posts. That new engine runs like a clock. The STB engine has all new components on a used longblock (was in the boat and running when we bought it). Unfortunately it has been plauged with a high speed backfire through the carb:mad:
I thought it was a "lean condition" caused by a fuel delivery problem so I had the fuel tank and fuel polished (large truck comes out and filters all fuel and cleans any gunk out of the tank) New carb, still same issue. 5 pounds steady fuel pressure. Started on the ignition side of things with a new electronic module in the dist. just to be safe, Same problem. LONG story short, I have to tear into that engine hopefully this weekend. I have a feeling the only used part I used were the exhaust manifolds (they were off a freshwater cooled boat, but used) Perhaps in the short amount of time in our Florida Salt water they have gone bad causing the miss and backfire described. Will see soon. We have been taking close by trips on the one engine and that has been fine for now. Isnt boating fun????:CRY::CRY::CRY:

Thank you for asking how the boat is doing though and I still love it. Don Jr.

I love the name I'm a big fan of Van Morrison! Great song and name for a classic boat. Gotta love those old Chris Crafts! I lived aboard one for a year in the keys. It was a fiftyfive footer that used to be a ferry boat to Fire island in NY. The owners converted it to a house boat and later donated it to Sea Camp where I used to teach Marine Biology. What a great year that was!
Taylor sounds like a saint. Better hang on to that one.

Stovens,
Saint is a strong word.................Its like a saint with devils horns!:LOL:

hehe!