Video summary
The video captures a vibrant gathering of car enthusiasts at Tractor Supply in Essex Junction, Vermont, showcasing a diverse array of vehicles ranging from modern muscle cars to classic restorations and unique imports. The event highlights a 2009 Dodge Charger Superbee, the final year of its production run, which stands out with its rare Hemi Pearl Orange paint and forged alloy wheels. This specific vehicle is one of only 425 made, featuring a 425-horsepower Hemi engine and serving as the first registered owner's pride since it was rescued from a dealership lot after sitting for two years with just 9,000 miles on the odometer. The car also boasts special factory badges commemorating its limited production status and advanced performance features like a drag strip timer.
Beyond the modern Charger, the gathering includes several historic American classics that tell stories of long-term ownership and personal restoration projects. A 1969 Dodge Charger with a numbers-matching 383 cubic inch engine has been rebuilt in Vermont since 2013, while another owner displays his 1978 Pontiac Firebird equipped with a 355 Chevy small-block engine that he has maintained himself to save money. The collection also features a rare 1969 Ford Fairlane Cobra Jet, originally built to compete with GM's GTOs, which has remained in the same family for over 45 years despite being considered a "white elephant" by previous owners. Additionally, a 1972 Pontiac Lemons with its original two-barrel engine and rally wheels was rescued from a farm and restored over four years to remain fully original.
The event also celebrates unique engineering feats, most notably a factory-made 1967 Austin Mini pickup truck that was imported from England in 1992. This vehicle is an extremely rare survivor, representing less than one percent of the few thousand Minis produced as utility vehicles in the UK, with only about one hundred remaining in the United States today. The owner has since undertaken a radical ground-up rebuild, incorporating parts from various other vehicles such as a Honda Civic wing, a Subaru Impreza seat, and a GMC wiring kit to create a custom machine that retains its original paint job from 2004. This eclectic mix of cars demonstrates the community's appreciation for all types of builds, regardless of make or model, provided they are not involved in dangerous activities like burnouts.
The atmosphere at the gathering is casual and inclusive, with owners sharing their personal histories and modifications while enjoying the outdoors between the hours of 5 PM and dusk. The group operates without a formal club structure, welcoming anyone who has a neat car or an interesting story to share, reflecting a deep passion for automotive culture that transcends specific brands. Whether it is driving back to Florida in a Mustang convertible equipped with safety cameras or simply enjoying the ride in a restored classic, the participants emphasize the joy of ownership and the camaraderie found among fellow enthusiasts. The event serves as a regular meet-up on weather-permitting Wednesdays, fostering a sense of community that has grown from Burlington to Essex Junction over several years.
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Yes, this is a Dodge Charger Superb.
It's a 2009.
Um, Dodge rebooted the Superb uh back in
2007. The first year they were only
available in
yellow, I believe. And the second year,
the 2008s were all blue. And this was
the last year of the reboot. This is
Hemi Pearl Orange is the color.
>> And I noticed when I walked in, there is
still a price sticker. in the window.
Can you tell me about that?
>> Of course. We just found it actually
over the weekend. We didn't even know it
was still in the vehicle. Um, so we
found the original um dealer sticker
with the price on it, including the base
price and then all the options. And then
on the other side of the car, we also
found an options list. They loaded this
car with all the options. So, we picked
it up about 2 years ago and it had only
9,000 miles on it even though it's a
2009.
Um, and which is why we picked it up,
but it went from dealer to dealer to
dealer. They were showed it as like um
you know, this is what we have kind of
thing and no one purchased it. So, it
went to another dealer and it sat in
their lot, which is why it had so few
miles on it when we were get able to get
it.
So, this is the uh last year production
model of the Superb Charger
uh 2009. They were they were made in
what's called a Hemi pearl orange and
that was a the oneyear color for this
car. It also has the alloy for forged
rims which are specially made for this
car. Um, and it was uh 425
of them made and this is number 68.
>> That's really interesting.
>> And when I purchased the car, I was the
I am the first original first registered
owner. The car went around from dealer
to dealer as as an example or um what
could be ordered and u it ended up here
in Vermont when I saw it and it only had
9,000 miles on it.
>> That's amazing. Is is that number
embossed or engraved in the vehicle at
some place?
>> Yeah, I have a badge
>> on the dash. Yeah. Yeah.
It's a big Hemi for the year. That's
Hemi. And um it's uh 425 horsepower
at 425
foot-p pounds of torque.
Automatic five-speed.
You can manually shift it or you can
shift it as an automatic.
And it's got what's called a performance
mode that you can turn it on and it'll
time you or measure you of of an eighth
mile, a quarter mile, and a half mile
drag strip.
>> So, it's a lot of fun to drive.
>> Uh, hi, I'm Glenn Candidate. Uh uh I
live out in Richmond and uh this is our
hangout spot here at Tractor Supply in
Essex. Uh
loose group of people. We're not really
a car club or anything. So an official
club. Uh there's some members of a club
here, but uh this is my car. It's a uh
2019
uh Ford Mustang convertible. Uh it's got
the little EcoBoost cuz I knew if I got
the GT, I'd get in a lot more trouble.
So, uh, it's good. It's got 310
horsepower in it. Uh, get over 30 m per
gallon. Uh, it's got a 10-speed
automatic with the paddle shifters. The,
uh, I've done very little to it. It's
all stock. Uh, I have added a couple of
odds and ends thing more for safety and
comfort. You know, I put a camera in
there that looks out the front and the
back there so I can see idiots on the
road besides me. uh you know I I put a
windscreen in the back between the uh
seats and uh to cut down on uh the the
air that comes back because it is
convertible. You get the air coming over
the roof and then it whips back around
on you and that screen knocks that down
considerably for some reason. American
cars, they don't put those in there. Uh
what else? Oh, I put u oh got a little
wireless thing so my phone connects
automatically to it and everything. Uh,
I've got uh LED lights into the trunk so
I can see in there instead of the one
little anemic light that's over on the
side. Uh, but other than that, you know,
it's uh it's a nice little basic car. It
uh started out life as a rental car down
in Palmetto, Florida. Uh I bought it uh
it was 2 years old, had 30 some odd,000
on it. I'm up around 73,000 now. I've
driven back to Florida and twice uh with
it twice. Uh uh you know, so you can
tell the tourists down in Florida cuz
they're the ones with the top down in
the summer. Uh the uh it's a great
little car.
>> All right. This is a 1969 Dodge Charger.
Uh I had my brother-in-law found it for
me in North Carolina and at the time it
was a basket case and it was rebuilt
here right in Vermont uh by u several uh
vendors and uh I've had it now for u
since 2013 and uh
I just enjoy the ride. [laughter]
This is my 383. This is the original
motor that came with the car. So, it's
the same block, numbers matching it came
out of the factory with it has been
rebuilt, of course, and it's got headers
and ignition systems been changed and
the fuel injection and it's been added
fuel injections been added to the car.
So, it's it's more efficient and better
gas mileage. [laughter]
>> What year was this originally built?
>> 69.
>> 1969.
>> Yeah.
>> And when did you put the fuel injectors
in? uh about two years ago.
[laughter]
>> So, this is my 1978 Pontiac Firebird
base model um with a 355 Chevy small
block engine and it's uh
got infernal red pearl paint on it and
so and I've had it since 1988.
[snorts]
>> Yeah.
>> A long time.
Have you done a lot of work on the car
yourself?
>> I [snorts] have done I have done a lot
of work myself on the car. Sometimes I
can could use [laughter] some help some
professionals, but I try to save money.
>> Yeah.
355 Chevy. We're 30 over 11 pistons. Um
probably about 400 horsepower
and still a work in progress
as they all are.
My name is Dan Reed. This is my 1969
Ford Cobra.
It's a Fairlane Cobra. People don't know
even what it is. They hardly made any of
them. They made these cars to go against
GTO's and all the other hot rods in the
day. This was Ford's
idea of going faster. So, it's a 428
Cobra Jet engine in it, and I've owned
it for over 45 years.
I had a friend that had the car, and he
couldn't sell it back in the day. It was
like a white elephant, so I ended up
buying it from him and uh had had it
ever since.
These hood pins came on the car from the
factory. They advertise it as the
closest thing you can
drive to a stock car
in a lot of the
magazines.
This is the 428 Cobra Jet engine. It's a
real ram air engine. It's the original
engine.
I've had it out and I rebuilt it, but uh
it goes quite well.
Yeah, it's this 1972 Pontiac Lemons. All
original 350 two barrel. Found it on a
farm. 2008. I dragged her home. Took me
four years to get it on the road. Bought
off the original owners.
It's got 168,000 miles on it. Totally
original. Original rally wheels,
original interior.
And she just keeps running. and I love
to show her off.
>> So, what you're looking at here is a
1967
Austin Mini pickup truck. Now, folks may
think that this was converted from a
Mini sedan, but that was not the case.
This is a factory-made pickup truck that
was imported from the previous owner
back in 1992.
I have owned this vehicle since 1995
and in that time frame this car has gone
through a radical conversion where every
panel has been touched. Um, every aspect
of it has been torn down to the very nut
and bolt and we basically rebuilt it
from ground up.
This is my design for this and I had
Vermont people only help me put this
vehicle together.
So this is anywhere from the body work
to uh some of the mechanical work to the
um interior work. So the vehicle started
off as bone stock white
and this vehicle was came from England
and was never imported in this country.
And right now this vehicle is only about
one of 100 of these vehicles in the
entire country about one in 500
worldwide.
So out of six million minis that they
built for the run, only 1% of those were
factory-made pickup trucks. And out of
all those pickup trucks right now, only
1% are surviving because they were sold
as utility vehicles and business
vehicles in England. And so when
businesses were done using it, they
basically just tossed them away and got
themselves another one. things like
passenger seat, heater, spare tires.
Those were actual options that they had
to check off when they ordered the
vehicle.
I have um put in a different engine than
what it had. It was changed from a
four-speed to a five-speed transmission.
Uh aluminum head. Uh it's just got all
the goodies in there. Um, it also
incorporates vehicles from a 92 Honda
Civic sedan for the wing to a 1999
Subaru Empreza seat to a GMC wiring kit
that was put in there in which we
changed it from a four circuit system to
a 21 circuit system. And also the rear
window, which is a sliding window,
started off from a 1963 Ford pickup
truck that we resized. So, it's a little
bit of a Frankenstein, but you really
wouldn't know it unless I probably told
you about it. Um, this vehicle was
finished in the year 2004.
It has the um same paint job since
there. So, this is a 22-y old paint job
that's on it.
And basically now I just drive it and
enjoy it and come out to the shows like
this and meet people with it.
Yeah, just come on down to uh Tractor
Supply in Essex, Vermont here. Uh you
know, we're uh just kind of hanging out
between like 5 to 7 or so or till it
gets dark. Uh if you've got a neat car
or you just enjoy looking at neat cars,
you got some car stories, uh come on
down and see it and uh share with us. Uh
we're not any brand or make model in
particular as you can tell. Uh you know,
we we like pretty much all builds. Uh
just no burnouts and uh yeah, you know,
we've we've been doing this for several
years. I've only been doing it for about
four years, but uh uh you know, a lot of
these guys have been here for years and
they started out, I guess, in Burlington
and then moved out this way. Yeah. No,
just uh on on weather permitting, of
course. you know, uh it's not every
Wednesday. It's just weather permitting
Wednesdays. And we will go into the fall
a little bit and then wrap things up.
And uh you'll see us in the spring.