There are few places in the world where people will flock to see rust. The Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago every November I am proud to say is one of those very rare examples.
Over the weekend of November 22nd and 23rd 2025, the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (MCACN) was held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center outside of Chicago. This is the 16th year of the show and every year it gets better. One of the focal points of the show, since 2012 has been the Barn Finds and Hidden Gems display.
Now most car shows scoff at having cars covered in mold, or that have quarter panels barely hanging on in their shows, but at MCACN we relish it! It has become a staple of the show, and normally a high percentage of the cars in the display are Mopar (and not just because I am one of the people that picks the cars).
2025 was another incredible year, with a very wide variety of cars coming from all over the place. Up front along the wall we had five cars that came from the “Mopar5150” group. This included a real 1969 Dodge Daytona, a 1969 Charger 500 Hemi car that came out of Indiana. Next to that was a 1968 Charger R/T Hemi car and then a pair of E-bodies. A red 1970 ‘Cuda convertible and a 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T.
Also, on that side of the wall was probably one of the rarer cars in the Barn Finds display, but a real 1968 Hemi Barracuda Super Stocker that was rescued by Steve Atwell. While rare, we have had a few in the display in the past. This one appears to be one of the rarest, with it being one of the most original to exist. It even still has the original Hemi it was born with (not with the car at the show, but back home in Michigan).
The last two on wall side of the display, are probably some of the flashiest. A 1969 AMC AMX that was used in SCCA racing. Yes, it was in a different class from the SCCA Javelins, but still had a pretty good career from what I heard from the owner. And next to that is probably the coolest, weirdest, and saddest car.
The 1968 Plymouth Satellite convertible was owned by a neighbor of Roger Schmeling, one of the shows main crew. Unfortunately, the neighbor passed away after the car had sat for decades, and Roger was able to rescue it. The underneath is so rusty the leaf spring has gong through the trunk on the way to the show!
Across from my booth was the 1969 Plymouth GTX that Keith Noel and his crew from Noel Automotive rescued out of a barn in Iowa. They are doing a full video series on their YouTube channel on putting the car right and getting it back on the road for the owner.
Further forward on that side was another B-Body, but slightly rarer being a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner convertible, and it was a 440 Six-Barrel car! I saw this car for a moment when I was visiting the Townley Collection in Georgia. The car has not been touched for the most part in a few decades but will be fully restored and then unveiled at MCACN sometime here soon.
There was only two more Mopars along that row, and the next was probably the most understated. It is a 1963 Dodge Polara convertible. OK, that is cool, but it lives in that “OK, cool weird” time in Mopars. What makes it cool is a dozen of these cars were built with the hot 426 Max Wedge engine, and even rarer yet only one was done to ‘Stage II’, and this is that one car. And just past that is a Butterscotch 1969½ A12 Dodge Super bee. This was a barn find and made mechanically sound. It is a neat time capsule owned by a friend of mine. Was one of only a handful of cars that ran!
The section was so full, we had a full complement of cars down the middle, and that is where I placed the largest Mopar in the group, a 1970 Plymouth Sport Fury GT. And while that is cool, especially with two other 1970 Sport Fury GTs being in the show this year. What set this one above and beyond was the fact that it is a real 440 Six Barrel car.
They only made 64 of the GTs with the big 440 Six-Barrel engines. And this one is nearly all original, while many of the others are missing original engines or such. This one is being redone by Tom Hergert with Rocket Restoration. He is doing a series on this car’s restoration on his channel.
One of the funnier highlights is the car that was on display by Seth Degenhardt, one of the staff members of the show. He found in his open garage a radio controlled 2007 Dodge Charger R/T and set it at my booth, and it was funny how many people were taking pictures of it! Definitely a bit of the fun we have in the display.
Overall, the MCACN show was a huge success and the Barn Finds and Hidden Gems display was incredible. We already have cars lined up for next year, so keep watching. You never know what might pop up there!
