ATLANTA CAR NEWS
Fairburn man has 33 Plymouths from ‘64
Blame it on Richard Petty, he says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, August 30, 2008
If you stand just right in Joe Suchy’s yard in Fairburn, you begin to wonder if a time machine has transported you back to a Plymouth dealer’s lot in 1964.
Tucked away in the nooks and crannies on his spread are a fleet of 1964 Plymouths, 33 of them in all, including at least one of all 14 versions of Plymouths offered in ‘64.
Sara Hopkins/Special
Amid his collection of 1964 Plymouths, Joe Suchy sits in a Fury while his stepdaughter, Mary ‘Butch’ McCuen and wife, Dinah, look out the windows of a Plymouth nicknamed ‘The Bomb,’ in the front yard of Suchy’s Fairburn home. He owns at least one of all 14 models that Plymouth produced in 1964.
Sara Hopkins/Special
These are six of the 1964 Plymouths that Joe Suchy, his wife, Dinah, and his stepdaughter, Mary McCuen (born in 1964), have worked to restore. Suchy traces his love for the brand to the first NASCAR race he attended, when Richard Petty won the 1966 Rebel 400 in a Plymouth. Suchy later took up drag racing as a hobby, driving a 1964 Plymouth, of course.
The Suchys have station wagons, two- and four-door hardtops, sedans and convertibles, some of them Savoys, others Furys or Sport Furys. Some are fully restored, others in good condition and some awaiting restoration.
Why so many Plymouths and why so many ’64s?
Some of that is because of Richard Petty, the legendary driver who won the first NASCAR race Suchy ever attended, in a Plymouth of course.
It was the Rebel 400 at Darlington Raceway in 1966. Petty sat on the pole, led all but 20 laps and was three laps ahead of second-place finisher Paul Goldsmith as Plymouth and Dodge drivers swept the first six spots. It was the 43rd career win for Petty, who went on to win 200.
“He was kind of my hero,” Suchy said.
Suchy eventually had a racing career of his own, driving 1964 Plymouth drag cars from 1971 to 1987 while holding down his job as a machinist for Delta Air Lines.
“I always thought the ‘64 was one of the best-looking Plymouths ever built,” he said. “When I gave up drag racing, since I’m not a television person, I’ve got to be doing something, so I set a goal to own one of every version of the ‘64 Plymouth.”
He got the last pieces of the puzzle, a Savoy wagon and a Belvedere wagon, in November 2006.
When Suchy isn’t working on his cars, he’s buying and selling car parts, mostly for Dodges and Plymouths made from 1962 to 1965. The parts business helps offset the cost of restoring and maintaining his own fleet.
In the past several years, he’s gotten some unexpected pleasure from his restoration projects.
His grown stepdaughter, Mary McCuen, has started working alongside him on Fridays, her off days from her job as an assistant for a Cobb County dentist.
Joe Suchy seems more proud of his daughter’s participation in his hobby than in the final products they produce.
He said she’s become a very competent mechanic, one who will tackle any job, even dirty jobs like breaking down and remounting tires.
“She’s real good,” Suchy said. “You only have to show her something one time.”
Suchy said his fellow car collectors marvel at Mary’s attention to detail when reassembling a car.
“People are amazed when I say my daughter is responsible for how a car looks under the hood, every aspect of it,” he said.
Mary said working on cars gives her a chance to enjoy a hobby and spend time with her parents.
“It’s fun, and it’s OK to hang out with these old folks every once in a while,” she said.
Even when the work gets a little grimy, she still has a smile on her face.
“I don’t mind getting dirty, but it’s not my favorite thing,” she said. “I usually wear gloves because I have to go back to work on Monday and I can’t have grease under my fingernails.”
Although Mary’s daily driver is a 2007 Dodge Charger Daytona, she also has an affection for the cars of her parents’ generation.
“I actually like the ‘64 wagon best,” she said. “They were made the year I was born, so I’m kind of partial to them. You just don’t see them that often.”
