Muscle Car Museum Entertains Gearheads
By Lenore McKenzie-Morris
There are a number of clichés to describe Benjamen Caldwell’s happy response to visiting the Wheels of Yesteryear Museum.
”Kid in a candy store” or “moth to a flame” might work, but none impart the sense of appreciation the 23-year-old upstate resident displayed for the dozens of cars he thoroughly investigated recently at the museum.
“Nice, nice,” Caldwell murmured over a 1969 Dodge Charger 500.
While owner Paul Cummings explained the modifications Dodge made to the car’s front profile by pulling the grill forward and dropping the headlights in, Caldwell nodded his head.
“After this they put the nose on it,” Caldwell said, and Cummings began to nod in agreement.
When Cummings explained his passion for collecting and restoring cars from the MOPAR production lines, Caldwell was down on his knees looking under a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. “MOPAR is Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler; it’s the way auto fans identify their favorite type of cars,” Cummings said.
“That one’s got a Hemi in it,” said Ben as he returned to his feet. “And that’s like the Holy Grail.”
/media/images/Wheels_of_Yesteryear_Myrtle_Beach_10.jpgBen, who wears a jacket with a tiny wrench for a zipper pull, was obviously a devoted car fan long before entering the museum that afternoon. Visiting the Myrtle Beach area with his girlfriend and her parents, Caldwell and his girlfriend’s father, Tony Jackson, were happy to spend a few hours with Cummings and 53 of his best cars.
“My daughter and my wife are shopping at Tanger,” Jackson said. “This will get the wives at Tanger and the husbands over here.”
Cummings opened the car museum in October with a limited selection of his cars.
“I have 107 cars that are restored,” he said. “These are 50 of the best ones. We’ll be changing out the inventory.”
Cummings has other cars that he has not restored yet, but he doesn’t know how many unrestored cars he owns. He does know, and care a great deal, about those that he has restored.
His first car, a 1963 Chevrolet Impala two-door hardtop with a 409-cubic-inch, 425-horsepower engine, comes with a story of a young girl who wanted to date him after he got the car.
His second car is clearly the favorite and comes with many, many more tales.
“It’s very fast, a very quick car,” Cummings said. “I wore it out in one year drag racing.”
The car, a 1964 Plymouth Max Wedge two-door coupe, four-speed V8 with a super stock 426-cubic-inch engine, has a book reading of 415 horsepower. Cummings, who said he has measured it up to 700 horsepower, got a nod of approval from Caldwell.
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“They wouldn’t report the horsepower,” Caldwell said. “The general public wouldn’t buy it then because of the insurance coverage.”
The sticker inside the car reads: “Only to be used for supervised acceleration trials and not for highway or general passenger use.”
Lovingly restored back to its original condition, the car still gets a hefty dose of respect from Cummings for its all-factory components.
“This has a 13:1 compression,” he said. “You wouldn’t crank this one in this building. You’d need earplugs.”
Every car in the garage is carefully labeled with signs with the most minute details: that 1970 Dodge R/T convertible – one of only 149 produced – is not lime green, it’s Sassy Grassy Green. Most days, Cummings himself is on hand to discuss engines, body styles and his own adventures with visitors.
He leaves the front office to Chip Bibey.
/media/images/Wheels_of_Yesteryear_Myrtle_Beach_18.jpg“This is why I’m here,” Bibey said, waving a hand over the warehouse of cars. “It’s not for the money. When they were building this place I came out once a week and told them I’d love to work here.”
The museum collection is housed in the former Basketville store on the U.S. 501 frontage road just south of Tanger Outlets. Cummings enlarged the building to add a gift shop and already has plans to expand the showroom.
The walls of the museum are filled with automotive posters and all things car-related. Local artist Edward Fanjoy created some stunning charcoal drawings from old Myrtle Beach post cards and other subjects and has paintings in the museum as well.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for 9- to 15-year-olds and free for children under 9. There is a group rate of $4 per person.
For more information, visit www.musclecarsandmore.com.
My wife and me went there in the fall, I very much enjoyed it, and I do plan on going back again. Thank you, Sean.
Great place and really nice folks to talk with. Well worth the admission price.