THE GREAT TEXAS MOPAR® AUCTION: PREVIEW

****COURTESY OF DODGEGARAGE.COM*****

By Steve “Scat Pack” Magnante 6/4/2021 4:00 PM EventsVideo5 min readAUCTIONSDODGE CLASSICSPLYMOUTH CLASSICS

There’s something BIG brewing in the Texas prairie! It’s the Great Texas Mopar® Hoard auction event, an online-only collector car auction featuring over 200 choice Mopar vehicles from the estate of a lifelong Mopar collector. And best of all, the auction will be a “no reserve” event, meaning that each and every lot number will sell to the highest bidder.

Scheduled to take place in October of 2021, these great project cars and trucks will all find new homes thanks to the services of Spanky’s Freedom Car Auctions. If the name Spanky sounds familiar, then you will remember him – Spanky Assiter – as Barrett-Jackson’s lead auctioneer for several successful years.

And if you remember that, then you probably also remember Spanky’s wife Amy Assiter, one of the Bidder’s Assistants, her long brown hair flying on the TV screen as she shouted bids to the auction block. Today, Spanky and Amy operate Assiter Auctioneers, the parent company of Spanky’s Freedom Car Auctions.

With the meet-and-greet out of the way, let’s preview some of the 200-plus vintage and special interest Dodge, Plymouth, DeSoto, Chrysler and Imperial vehicles that will all find new homes in October. To see more, go to freedomcarauctions.com or to the Steve Magnante YouTube channel where live-action walk-around videos exist to add even more information on each lot number.

1974 DODGE D200 CLUB CAB: LOT # 1

1974 Dodge D200 Club Cab

In its third year on the market, Dodge’s fully redesigned D-series pickup truck line was far more refined than the 1961-71 Sweptline D-series that came before. The primitive leaf spring, live front axle was replaced by independent coil springs and the interior was far more luxurious with padded surfaces in place of cold, hard steel.

This Club Cab model, new for 1973, offered an extra 18 inches of wheelbase to make room for the longer cab floor and convenient behind-the-seat storage area. Also new for 1974 was the mighty 440 big block engine, which replaced the 400 that was used in 1973. This original paint D200 Club Cab packs the top dog 440, heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite® automatic transmission, Dana 60 rear axle, factory optional chromed trailer towing mirrors, bucket seats, air conditioning, power brakes, power steering and cruise control. As a Texas truck, it’s solid and rust-free except for a couple of small patches seen in the walk-around video.

1973 PLYMOUTH FURY FLEET SEDAN: LOT # 2

1973 Plymouth Fury III

Packing the P-code High Performance 400-cubic-inch big block with dual exhaust, a dual snorkel air cleaner and 140-mph certified speedometer, this 1973 Plymouth Fury probably has a law enforcement background. Rolling on 15×6.5-inch body-colored “steelies” with “poverty caps”, it’s essentially a muscle car in disguise. Though the data tag is missing, a second tag reading “special order” sets this one apart from the crowd.

The “fuselage body”, making its final appearance for 1973, still wears its original Honey Gold paint and is free from structural rust, while the interior is complete down to the front and rear bench seats. While the light-duty Salisbury-type 8-1/4 inch rear axle was standard issue under most Furys, this one packs the same heavy-duty Hotchkis-type 8-3/4 rear axle used under most Mopar muscle cars of the day. A heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission takes commands from a column-mounted shift lever. If you appreciate a “sleeper” muscle car, this one is for you!

1965 PLYMOUTH FURY III: LOT # 5

After going without a full-sized model line since 1961, Plymouth reintroduced the full-size C-body for 1965 in the form of the Fury. Offered as the Fury I, Fury II, Fury III and Sport Fury, these extra-large models helped increase Plymouth’s overall sales by 31.5 percent over 1964 when only the compact A-body and mid-sized B-body platforms were offered.

This 1965 Plymouth Fury III four door sedan (Lot Number 5) is one of 50,725 built and packs the optional 383 2-barrel big block and 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission, a $396 surcharge over the base Slant Six and “three-on-the-tree”. And speaking of this car’s TorqueFlite transmission, know that it is a one-year-only big block unit with the cable-operated valve body and new slip-yoke tail shaft configuration. These transmissions are in high demand among builders of 1962-65 Max Wedge and Race HEMI® clones who want the push-button transmission controls without the hassle of the ball-and-trunnion driveshaft. Not that you’d want to harvest this particular item. Just sayin…

Other goodies include manual drum brakes, power steering, a factory clock and RADIO DELETE. That’s right, if you didn’t want to pay $59 for the Transaudio AM radio, Plymouth graciously plugged the hole in the dash with an ornate plastic delete plate, as seen in this one. Re-sprayed in the original turquoise and white, this first-year full-size Fury would make a great family cruiser.

1964 DODGE A100 WALK-THROUGH VAN: LOT # 11

The A-series compact van of 1964-70 was Dodge’s answer to Ford’s 1962 Econoline van, which was Ford’s response to Volkswagen’s Microbus of the 1950s. This 1964 A100 van is very special for two reasons. First, it was ordered with the rare “walk through” door configuration, and secondly, the sequence number on the VIN tag (1962000604) tells us this was the 604th A100 van ever built! If that’s not cool, we don’t know what is.

Powered by the 225 Slant Six with a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission, this first-year A100 is exceptionally solid and nearly rust-free. Though some small areas of rust bubbles and perforation are visible on the lower body surfaces, the floors and foot wells are nice and clean. These A100 compact vans are becoming more and more popular every day and surviving examples are very hard to find. And being a walk-through makes this one all the more unique. Imagine stuffing a Mopar Performance 426 HEMI crate engine between the Bostrom Thin Line front bucket seats. With its double-side-door body configuration, you could showcase the engine from either side!

1959 CHRYSLER WINDSOR: LOT # 14

1959 Chrysler Windsor

1959 was the final year for body-on-frame construction for the Chrysler line. Unitized construction would replace it for 1960 (except on the top-tier Imperial line). This 1959 Chrysler Windsor wears Arizona license plates from the 1959 model year and passes the “magnet test” in all of the usual rust areas except for some small bubbles popping through on the lower quarter panel extensions. Inside, the original upholstery covers the seats and the factory AM radio is still present.

Under the hood, a 383 2-barrel big block wears factory air conditioning with an early version of the clutch-type fan that would later help Street HEMI vehicles stay cool while reducing parasitic drag. Factory power drum brakes and power steering help make this Windsor a breeze to drive. All of the hard-to-find chrome grille, bumpers and trim are present and in great condition. This would make a nice cruiser or – shun the notion – a solid parts car for the restoration of a less common two-door model or convertible.

Stay tuned to DodgeGarage for more interesting vehicles from the Great Texas Mopar Auction!

Steve is available for APPEARANCES / SPOKESPERSON / VIDEO HOST

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen I’m not busy with one of the Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions on SPEED, I’m available to speak at YOUR car club meeting, car show or other automotive event. I am also available for work (selectively) as a paid spokesperson at industry trade shows like SEMA. In 2011 and 2012 I was hired by MSD Performance to give live hourly demonstrations of the new MSD Atomic EFI system.

 

I am also available to host commercial and / or industrial videos. I have appeared in a national network and cable TV ad campaign for the 2007 Dodge Hemi Charger and have done numerous how-to and instructional videos for companies like MSD, Mothers, COMP Cams, Royal Purple, Redline Dodge.com and others. Let me bring my credibility and knowledgeable presentation to your commercial or instructional videos. Contact me at 508/637-1514 or hemimagneto@aol.com for information about rates and terms.

 

 

Hanging with the Broadcast Team

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Here’s a shot of our broadcast team doing a meet and greet function at – I think Scottsdale. From L to R we have Bob Varsha, Mike Joy, Matt Stone, me, Justin Bell and Rick DeBruhl. Only Matt and I come from the world of car magazines (I used to bump into Matt inside the elevator during my days at Petersen Publishing in L.A., never thinking some day we’d be on the same TV show). The rest of the guys are seasoned broadcast professionals (Bob, Mike and Rick). As for Justin, if you are even vaguely familiar with the world of European race drivers from the Sixties and Seventies, his Dad Derek Bell will be familiar. Justin is a chip off the same block. To me, his greatest achievement was being part of the Dodge Viper factory race team. I’d die to have that on my resume! Then again, I’m not so good at competition driving – other than on a drag strip. That’s my thing. Justin is a great addition to our team and I really enjoy his goofy nature and willingness to play along at some of the bird brained things I put him up to on camera. I don’t have a good picture of April Rose (another member of our broadcast team)…I’ll make up for that soon. April is a charmer! But you knew that…

Hanging with Linda Vaughn

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I caught up with lovely Linda Vaughn backstage at the 2011 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale collector car auction. I’d met Linda before at various press functions and at the SEMA show, and – I don’t know how she does it – but she always remembers you and makes you feel like you are closer than you are. Love ya Linda!

Hanging Out With Dennis “Grave Digger” Anderson

 

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A few years ago I got to hang out with Dennis “Grave Digger” Anderson during filming of a program for SPEED TV. Dennis and the whole crew are incredibly down to earth! I did have a problem though. For some reason I kept forgetting how to say Poplar Branch…the North Carolina home town of the Grave Digger and many other famous monster trucks. The show producer wanted to strangle me. I kept saying “Poplar BLUFF”. I don’t know why. It just happens. But Dennis was very cool about it …he even nick named me “rain man”. Not sure why…

Hanging with the HOT ROD team in 1998

This photo appeared in HOT ROD magazine in 1998 and depicts the staff at the time. I’m standing behind the car (fifth from the left) along with the rest of the crew. I spent 7 years as Tech Editor at HOT ROD and still regard it as the high point of my career. It was an honor to work with legends like Gray Baskerville (far left) and Ro McGonegal (seated on running board, far right). Also visible here are fellow staffers who would go on to great things of their own. To my left in the picture are JHeff Koch and Terry McGean. If you read Hemmings Muscle Machines you’ll recognize Terry as the Editor In Chief and Jeff as a Feature Editor (he also contributes regularly to Hemmings Classic Car and Hemmings Sports & Exotic). Gray Baskerville sadly passed away in February 2002, but his all-steel ’32 roadster lives on. I’ll never forget working with this dedicated and fun loving crew of car fanatics.

Hanging with Dennis Hopper

I wish I could say Dennis Hopper and I were good buddies. The fact is, when I snapped this picture of him in May of 2004, he wasn’t very happy with me. We were gathered at the premiere screening of a made for TV movie called The Last Ride. Hopper was in the movie which featured a number of then-new Pontiac GTO’s. I was sent to the premiere by High Performance Pontiac magazine to get the story. I was granted a few minutes with Hopper to interview him and have him pose with one of the movie cars (a single exhaust ’04 GTO with a fake dual exhaust outlet – to emulate the look of the 2005 treatment). Somehow I sensed he was tired and suggested “you don’t have to kneel with the car if your knees hurt”. I guess I was being presumptive about his health, he was offended and became silent. We skipped the interview.

Hanging with Chaz & AJ morning team of 99.1 WPLR in Connecticut

I’ve been told I have a face for radio. Not sure if that’s a compliment or not, so far my only radio experience is a regular visitor to the studios of 99.1 WPLR in Connecticut. In the days before each Barrett-Jackson collector car event, the morning team of Chaz & AJ ask me to do a quick segment about what to watch for and what’s going to break the bank. Serious car dudes (Chaz has a late model Mustang GT350H and AJ has a ’63 Fairlane with Thunderbolt mods) we hope the exposure motivates WPLR listeners in the metro-Connecticut / New York City listening range to tune in to the auction. Check out the WPLR website for AJ’s Car Of The Day!