The Alpine White Utica Club Beer SuperBird, shown below during
its heyday, belongs to Dave Pomerleau of Palm Harbor, FL. Here is his
story:
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"As you can see from these photos, the Utica Club Beer SuperBird has
had quite a life so far. It all started in 1970, when Duncan McCully,
who is shown standing with the car in the photo at right, worked for West
End Brewing Company in Utica, NY in Public Relations as Promoter of
Sales.
Mr. McCully approached F.X. Matt, the owner of the brewery, and suggested
that they purchase 'one of those wild looking winged Plymouths', put some of
the company's logos on it and sponsor a lot of the modified car races at
Utica, Rome and all over at upstate New York race tracks to help promote
Utica Club Beer.
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![[Black And White
Photo - Driver's Side From Rear]](jpgs/wwnboadp1.jpg)
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Duncan recalls well all the Saturday nights he drove the car all over
upstate New York to the modified tracks. He remarked on how much fun it
was to drive and I'll quote him: 'that the car could really turn some
heads, and was it ever fast!'
Duncan also mentioned that when the car was pacing the tracks, a lot of
different beauty queens would sit on the wing during the parade laps. You
can't see it in the photo above, but painted on the trunk lid is a circle
with a woman draped in an American flag. She was known as Miss Columbia.
Part of the promotion was that every time a driver won a race, his name
would be put into a hat and at the end of the modified racing season, a
name would be drawn out of that hat and that driver would be given the
SuperBird. Geoff Bodine won the car and kept it for many years. I'm not
sure how Geoff's then brother-in-law, Jeffrey Sheldon of Brandon, FL,
talked him into selling the car.
![[Car In A Grove Of
Trees - From The Rear On The Passenger Side]](jpgs/wwnboadp2.jpg)
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But sometime in the late 1980's, Jeffrey ended up with the SuperBird
and used it as a daily driver to get to Buck's Plumbing where he worked.
This is where I always saw the Bird. One day, on his way home from work,
a 16 year old girl ran a stop sign in front of him.
Jeffrey broad-sided her car and did a lot of damage to the Bird's right
front fender and most of the nosecone. Some $5,000 later, it was back on
the road. But whoever did the repairs did a poor job, as just a few years
later, the nosecone began to come apart where the bozo had used a lot of
bondo. Jeffrey got discouraged with the Bird and parked it under a grove
of trees, as shown in the photos here. And that is where it sat for the
next five years.
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As you can see, Mother Nature took her toll on the SuperBird. I'd been
bothering Jeff to sell me the car for years. Each time I asked, the answer
was the same....the car is not for sale. Finally, in late 1996, I asked
again. He drew me a map of where the Bird was parked and I mean to tell
you, it was out in the middle of nowhere in Turkey Creek, FL!
After taking a look at the car, I drove back to Buck's Plumbing to tell
Jeff that what I saw and photographed brought tears to my eyes. I don't know
how anyone could let a car like this get so far gone. I paid him for the
Bird and it took four of us and a flat-bed tow truck to pull it out of there.
Now it sits in my storage unit awaiting parts and a restoration.
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![[Car In A Grove Of
Trees - From The Front On The Passenger Side]](jpgs/wwnboadp3.jpg)
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![[Close Up - Driver's
Side Door And Surrounding Area]](jpgs/wwnboadp4.jpg)
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The day I brought the SuperBird home, I vowed that no matter what it
takes, I am going to bring it back to life. It is a numbers matching 440
4-speed car. F.X. Matt has sent me photos of the original logo mentioned
earlier on the trunk lid. In a circle around Miss Columbia is the gold
lettering 'West End Brewing Company'. The 'Utica Club' lettering on the
side of the car was bright red and 'Pace Car' was lettering in black. Across
the back of the trunk lid, the lettering states 'It's tough to argue over
a Utica Club'. I plan to put the trunk lid logo and lettering back on the
car just as it was."
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