Southern California's Joe Machado has been a Mopar fan since his girlfriend showed him her taillights in a 1965 drag race. He was in his hopped-up 265 '55 Chevy and she was in her dad's 318 2bbl '64 Dodge Polara. Knowing when he was whipped (in more ways than one), Joe married his drag racing nemesis in early 1967. Shortly thereafter, Joe and his new bride were in the market for a vehicle. Joe's wife said OK to the purchase of a new car, but only if it was a Mopar. Soon after that, the newlyweds had a new '66 Charger in the driveway.

Joe still has the wife, but the '66 Charger is just a fond memory. Joe recalls that the dealer originally wanted $3,500 for the car, but after getting to know the newlyweds, he dropped the price to $2,750 so they could more easily afford it. And then the dealer cosigned on the deal for them and invited the couple home for dinner to meet his family! Joe never forgot this kindness from the owner of Wainwright Motors in Pineville, Louisiana.

Joe has owned well over 100 Mopars since he acquired that '66 Charger, and has a great story about most every one. How about his red Daytona with the black vinyl roof? Rachel Welch ordered the car, had the dealer install a vinyl roof and then had second thoughts! Then there is his blue cloned Daytona that has quite a following since its appearance in a Spice Girls video. And speaking of videos, what about the cars he owns that have been used in television and the movies? The list goes on and on.

With a 30+ year Mopar pedigree like this, its no surprise that Joe has accumulated a lot of memories. He has graciously consented to share just a few of them here through some of the photos he has collected over the years, most of which he took himself.

Click on a thumbnail to view the full-size version.

This is a Petty Enterprises SuperBird in the King's trophy room. The car was never actually driven in competition, but serves as a fairly faithful reproduction of the ones that were. Joe isn't exactly sure when this photo was taken, but it was probably sometime in the early 1980's.	Posed with Joe's Dodge Charger Daytona is the "Join the Dodge Rebellion" girl, Cheryl Miller. This photo was taken on January 23, 1972 in Riverside, California after the Winston Western 500 was ended early due to heavy fog.
This photo shows Richard Petty's SuperBird at the Falstaff 400 in Riverside, California on June 14, 1970. Petty started in second position and went on to win the race, leading all but four laps. This was Petty's 106th career victory and he collected $18,840 for this day's work.	As with the photo at left, this is Riverside in June of 1970. This time it's Bobby Isaac in the #71 K&K Insurance Dodge Daytona. Isaac managed a sixteenth place finish in the race after a third place start. Rear end problems took the car out of competition after 119 laps, 34 short of the full race length.
This is Bobby Isaac and his #71 K&K Insurance Dodge Daytona in a photo taken by Buddy Rogers. The specific location and date of the photo is unknown, but Joe believes it may have been taken sometime in 1970.	Bobby Allison poses here with his #22 Mario Rossi Dodge Daytona in a photo by Buddy Rogers. As with the previous photo, the track and date are unknown, but it was probably sometime in 1970.
The Norm Nelson owned SuperBird driven by Roger McCluskey is seen here in pit lane. Again, the track and date are unknown, but it may be Dover, Delaware or Brooklyn, Michigan in 1970 or 1971. This photo is also by Buddy Rogers.	In 1978, Joe was considering the purchase of Dave Marcis' Dodge Charger Daytona. This photo was sent to Joe by its then owner, Don Danielwicz. Joe never did buy the car. It was eventually repainted as a Petty SuperBird (that's right, a SuperBird!) and used as a promotional car for Goody's Headache Powder.
The field snakes through the turns at the start of the Motor Trend 500 in Riverside, California on January 18, 1970. Dan Gurney led the pack in his Ray Nichels prepared, Petty Enterprises crewed #42 SuperBird. Gurney had problems during the race and eventually finished in sixth.	This is Kevin Terris in his #32 Black & Decker sponsored SuperBird. The car made just one appearance as a SuperBird, and that was at the Falstaff 400 in Riverside, California on June 14, 1970. Terris finished 38th, after having engine problems. The Gary Sigman owned car began life as a '68 Satellite which was rescued from a Los Angeles airport parking lot after its owner never returned. This is an extremely rare photo, and is probably just one of a handful that exist of this car.
Here Kevin Terris and his #32 '70 Plymouth Road Runner are competing in the NASCAR race in Riverside, California on January 10, 1971. Terris managed a very respectable seventh place finish. This is the same car that was a SuperBird during its last NASCAR appearance at Riverside in June of 1970. In fact, Joe reports that this car was raced at various times as a '68 Road Runner, '69 Road Runner, '70 Road Runner and '70 SuperBird.	This again is Kevin Terris in his #32 Road Runner, attempting here to qualify for the 1971 World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Joe Machado was on Kevin's pit crew, and unfortunately Kevin did not end up making the race. Besides Terris, other well known west coast drivers (and former winged car pilots) Ray Elder, Dick Bown and Jack McCoy were also there. Only Bown was able to successfully qualify for the race.
This is Richard Petty in the Motor Trend 500 on February 1, 1969 in Riverside, California. Petty started fourth and eventually went on to win this Saturday race that was delayed on two consecutive Sundays by heavy rain. This was Richard's first ride in a Ford, and its not a Talladega, but a standard Torino Cobra. Ford mandated that Talladegas debut at Daytona later in the month.	As with the photo at left, this is in Riverside on February 1, 1969. Al Unser is in the driver's seat of the #41 Robbins Electric Dodge Charger 500. This was the debut race for the new Dodge Charger 500.
This again is Al Unser behind the wheel of the #41 Charger 500 at the Motor Trend 500 in February, 1969. Unser's sixth place start and fourth place finish were the best among the four Charger 500 drivers in the field.	Bobby Isaac exits his car immediately after completing a qualifying run for the May, 1971 World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Isaac, in the K&K Insurance '71 Dodge, qualified third but had radiator problems during the race and ended up 32nd after completing only 160 laps of the 400 contested.
Dick Brooks' '70 Charger is undergoing some rear end work in the garage area during qualifying for the 1971 World 600. The Mario Rossi owned Dodge would start seventh and finish tenth, ten laps behind the winner Bobby Allison. Brooks got $2,400 for his effort.	This is former Petty SuperBird driver Pete Hamilton (in the white driver's suit) with his #6 Cotton Owens Road Runner at the 1971 World 600. Hamilton's third place finish in the race was the best among all Chrysler competitors. Within three years of when this photo was taken, Hamilton would retire from NASCAR competition with four victories, three of which came in a SuperBird.
Former Dodge Daytona pilots Tiny Lund (left) and Ray Elder (right) check out Elder's '71 Charger at the 1971 World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even with Lund's help, Elder was unable to qualify for the race.	This is the garage area at the 1971 World 600. Doctor and former winged car driver Don Tarr's #37 '69 Charger is in the background. Former SuperBird driver Dick Bown is in the foreground.
If Dr. Don Tarr was thinking here that it would be tough to qualify for the World 600, he was right, because he didn't.	LeeRoy Yarbrough (facing the camera) chats in the garage area at the World 600 in May, 1971. Jim Paschal's #14 1971 Chevrolet is at right. Yarbrough was one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, but died a world away from NASCAR at a mental hospital in 1984.
In 1971, former #99 Dodge Daytona driver Charlie Glotzbach piloted the Richard Howard #3 Monte Carlo at the World 600. Although you can't tell it by looking at crew chief Junior Johnson or the other crew members, the car was performing well enough for Glotzbach to capture the pole.	Another shot of Glotzbach in his Monte Carlo. Chargin' Charlie ended up 28th after he was involved in a major accident on lap 234 with Speedy Thompson (who apparently wasn't too "speedy" during the race). Glotzbach brought home a badly damaged race car and $1,735 for his trouble.
This is the qualifying line at the 1971 World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 40 cars eventually started the race and the #56 at left wasn't among them. Bobby Allison won the race and $28,400; Walter Ballard finished last and collected $800.	This is one of Joe's Daytonas in Allison race trim. He bought the car in November, 1971, and by 1979 it was painted as seen here. Joe reports that he drove the car on the street as the #22 from 1979 until 1988, when a friend accidently ran into its nose with a late model Daytona! Joe brought his baby daughter home from the hospital in this car, and sixteen years later she took her driver's test in it (painted in Allison colors!). Joe also made several cross country trips in this Daytona, including one to a 1979 NASCAR race in Brooklyn, Michigan.