Disney celebrated its Cars franchise on Father’s Day weekend with a two-day car show
By Steve Turner
Our friends at SEMA run a promotion called Take a Kid to a Car Show, and on Father’s Day weekend we found the perfect show for young enthusiasts—Disney’s fourth-annual Car Masters Weekend. Held on the grounds of the popular Downtown Disney entertainment district, the Car Masters show is based around the Cars movies and their spin-offs, so it is definitely kid-friendly.
Even the shrubbery was decked out in Cars movie regalia during Car Masters Weekend. Not only was Lightning McQueen represented in vegetation, but his pal Mater was also right across the sidewalk. There were also life-size Cars characters on hand for the kids (and big kids) to take photos with.
While the Cars movie theme is prevalent at this event, it does attract plenty of cars and activities from the real world. Over 100 cars turn out for the show portion of the event, and they are lined up in and around the Downtown Disney property for fans to enjoy. And, anyone can come enjoy them because the event and parking are free.
In addition to the real cars, the Cars movie stars Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Finn McMissile were on hand to take pictures with all that wanted to endure the line. There were also appearances by designer Chip Foose, who helped design Ramone in the film, and Cars creative designer Jay Ward. There was even a discounted marathon of Cars and Cars 2 at the on-site theater.
Given that GM was a big sponsor of the show, we weren’t sure how strong the Ford representation would be. It was quite a relief when the first car that greeted us with this bad, black GT500 KR owned by Larry Beach of Orlando, Florida. He purchased the rare Shelby from Karl Flammer Ford back in December of 2008 and has kept it in pristine shape since then.
All told, it was great day to take the family out and enjoy some automotive entertainment.
The Disney folks have not officially announced a fifth-annual Car Masters Weekend for next year. It’s a safe bet that the show will return on Father’s Day weekend, so if you plan on being in the Orlando area around June 20-21, 2015, you might want to pencil this one onto your calendar. It is a fun show.
If they gave out a distance award for the Car Masters show, it would have to go to David Bowers of Brockville, Ontario Canada. He made the trip down to sunny Orlando, Florida, to show off his 2008 Mustang GT.
David’s car isn’t all about body kits and vertical doors, however. This Canadian GT is packing a Kenne Bell twin-screw supercharger atop the Three-Valve 4.6.
Much closer to Downtown Disney, Mark Eutis of Clermont, Florida, made the short drive over in his gorgeous, Grabber Orange Saleen. This 2007 convertible is the ideal summer cruiser.
Under the hood, Mark’s ’07 sports the rare Saleen Series VI.5 supercharger. This twin-screw blower is designed to boost a stock Three-Valve up to 475 horsepower.
With the most highly detailed show ’Stang at the show, Ramon Suarez of Clermont, Florida, showed off a stunning 2006 Mustang GT with custom touches inside and out.
Obviously supercharged Three-Valve’s were the Ford trend at the Car Master’s show, and Ramon’s ride featured another option, the Roushcharger. This Eaton M90-based system is designed to add 135 horsepower and 80 lb-ft of torque to a stock 4.6’s bottom line.
The trunk of Ramon’s S197 featured a well-executed custom audio system and a Roush trunk lid-mounted tool kit. Between those two Sony Xplod subs, Ramon added a Mustang flavor to the box by mounting a stock faux gas cap.
While we were scoping out the trick center-exit exhaust, another show guest commented on how hot those AmericanMuscle.com-sourced Raxiom tails were. We have to agree that theses ’13-’14-style lights for S197s really do look great.
As if they ordered up Mustang participants to make your author’s Father’s day weekend, the lone Fox on the show field happened to feature T-tops! Owned by Charles Hatcher of Orlando, Florida, this 1987 Mustang GT wears a carbon-fiber hood and a Saleen-style rear wing.
Apparently Charles is a huge fan of Ford Racing gear, because factory speed parts dominate his mod list. Aluminum X302 cylinder heads, a GT-40 intake, an E303 cam, and 1.6 roller rockers adorn the stock bottom end. That combo is rounded out by 30 lb/hr injectors, a mass air conversion, a 65mm throttle body and a 190-lph fuel pump all of which are also from the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog.
It’s funny how the interior is never that exciting when the car is new, but if you see one in this kind of shape 30 years later it impresses you more than the coolest custom interior around. While the interior appears pretty stock, Charles’ GT features a—you guessed it—Ford Racing short-throw shifter.
Since it was Father’s Day weekend, your author’s son was acting as the official SVTP photo assistant for the day. If he had been judging the show, Bryan Durbal’s 2013 Mustang would have been the big winner, as it was decked out like another Disney-Pixar star, Mike Wazowski of Monsters Inc. and Monsters University fame.
The Gotta Have It Green Mustang is obviously not a real Boss or a real movie car, but it did attract a lot of attention at the show. From the antenna eyeball to the license plate frame, this ’Stang was fully decked out in Monsters gear.
Of all the Monsters adornments on Bryan’s ride, we have to give him the biggest kudos for the Monsters University student parking pass. That is the kind of touch that really rounds out a theme.
The show wasn’t all about Disney, however. For the second year in a row, automotive design superstar Chip Foose was on hand to do a presentation and sign some of his artwork.
There was a steady line for photos with and autographs from Mr. Foose. And, as all things at Disney, this experience ended in the D Street gift shop.
As the presenting sponsor of the car show Meguiar’s was well represented by its event trailer on the show midway.
Welcome to the show…
The show had a few sponsors. Sadly, Ford wasn’t one of them…
The best car shows have activities for everyone, and the Car Master’s Weekend definitely delivered a wide variety of fun options.
