Ford Motor Company and the Mustang Club of America pulled out all the stops for the Mustang 45th Anniversary Celebration in Birmingham last week.
MCA president Steven McCarley reported that Barber Motorsports Park, host of the event, counted over 2,300 Mustangs for the April 16-19 event. That includes participant show cars, concours, and race cars.
Over 500 Mustangs participated in the Thursday evening cruise from Barber to downtown Homewood for an old-fashioned cruise-in and street party.
Ford's brought all of Dearborn with great displays of 2010 Mustangs along with the huge rig from Ford Racing with parts and cars like the new FR500CJ. On the Barber track, Vaughan Gittin Jr. demonstrated his drifting skills in his 2010 Mustang.
Most of the major players in the vintage Mustang market were set-up in the vendor area, including Mustangs Unlimited, CJ Pony Parts, Gateway Classic, SEMO Mustang, and California Mustang. Late-model owners had plenty to check-out as well from companies like Shelby Automobiles, C&L Performance, and Latemodel Restoration Supply. You could even have parts installed at Ford Racing and Classic Design Concepts.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally made an appearance on Saturday. He was treated like rock-star royalty as he signed autographs and posed for photos with attendees.
A group of '64 1/2 original owners were also at Barber with their cars, but unfortunately they were set up away from the main show areas so many attendees didn't even know they were there. The original Mustang two-seater concept car and Mustang Number One, a white '64 1/2 convertible, were also on display inside the Barber Museum, but again most people weren't aware of it.
Interestingly, the most talked about car at the 45th was Andy Vann's '66 Shelby GT350H, a car he pulled out of 28-year storage to display at the show in all of it's unwashed glory.
Look for coverage of the 45th in the August issue of Mustang Monthly.