Car Show - Too Many Mustangs! - From Jeff

Greetings Family, Friends And Followers,

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Larissa and I are pretty much Mustanged out. There were just too many of every kind, color, year to count, much less see, much less remember. But, we saw as much as we could see and have the sunburns to prove it. Good thing we took lots of pictures to remember this trip as I have seen more Mustangs in one spot than I ever thought possible. The first Mustang was built on April 17, 1964. From the stunning collection of '64 1/2 Mustangs we saw, not to mention the honored circle of '64 1/2 Mustangs present that were still owned by their original owners, it is hard to believe that 45 years had passed.

These came from all over the country including a beautiful coupe from Kansas, for sale for a mere $23k. The owner said it was time to sell now as he has done everything imaginable with it for 45 years and what else is there to do - good point. A four-speed, he describe the balky original transmission behavior as "trying to stir a keg full of nails with a crowbar". I would like to find out but the price of admission is unfortunately out of reach for me at the moment and I suspect most banks would laugh at the thought of financing a 45 year old keg full of nails. Perhaps I can get a bailout from the TARP funds?

How many red Mustangs? How many red Mustang coupes? How many red Mustang coupe Shelbys? How many red Mustang coupe Shelby Cobras? I lost count. How many classics of all types? Too many to count. How many cars? Thousands. l heard estimates of people attending the show in the 35000 range. Check out the pictures to get an idea.

Everywhere you turned, there were more Mustangs.

Yes, that is a pink Playboy Pony. As the sign and the owner described it, it was a one of a kind. And, it is also for sale for a mere $45k. I'll pass, thank you.

There were a lot of patriotic themed Mustangs. This was my favorite.

In the vendor area, we waited in a long line for a chance to get an autograph from Steve Saleen. He is starting a new company, SMS, and is working on something special for the 50th Anniversary Mustang - see the yellow artist's sketch in the background. He thanked each and every person who came to him for a signature, talked for a moment or two and posed for a picture. Real class act. Larissa had a grin from sunburned ear to sunburned ear!

Golden Hills Mustang Club has been properly represented at the car show. Since we have been made honorary members of the Mustang Club of Australia (Queensland and New South Wales Chapters, respectively), I will need to find window space for more decals quickly.

Say hello to Mustang One. This is the actual first production Mustang and it is here in the Barber Motorsports Museum which is also a huge motorcycle museum - I took lots of pictures of them too.

This is Mustang '62. Yes, that's right. This is the two seater concept car that pre-dated the production Mustang. I had never heard of this car before. It is considerably different from the actual production car. These pictures do not do it justice.

Well that is it for now. Our time here in Birmingham is complete which is a good thing as the tornado sirens were blaring earlier today. No joke! Time for the journey home. Not exactly a straight line, we are going to Mustang our way through New Orleans, San Antonio, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas on the way home. Let us hope for a tail wind.

Stay tuned for road trip updates.

Jeff