Mustang Alley and Mustang Memories celebrate 50 years of our favorite pony car during Woodward Dream Cruise week
By Steve Turner
Photos by Stacy Stangz
If you are into cars, there is no doubt the Woodward Dream Cruise is on your event bucket list. An ad-hoc celebration of all things automotive held on the roads of the Motor City, this event brings out all sorts of cool hardware, making it a fantasy land for car people. For Mustang fans, in particular, the presence has continued to grow thanks to the efforts of Ford and the Mustang Owners Club Southeastern Michigan.
Naturally, this year’s festivities took on a special significance in accordance with the Mustang’s big 50th birthday. In addition to the traditional Mustang Alley and MOCSEM Mustang Memories car shows, there were a host of other activities to enjoy. There were track days at Gingerman and Waterford Hills along with tours of cool facilities like the Roush collection and Watson Racing. There was also a special tour of the Mustang’s birthplace, the Flat Rock Assembly Plant.
There was so much going on, you really had to pick your spots, and team SVTP was on hand to soak up some highlights of the Mustang action.
Mustang Heroes
Birthdays are as fleeting as ice, so you definitely want to appreciate every one you can. When it came to celebrating the Mustang’s big 5.0, the Mustang Heroes Banquet was a marvelous way to pay respect to an automotive icon and its family.
Organized by Mike Rey and his MOCSEM crew, and held at the Ford Conference & Event Center, the Mustang Heroes banquet was one for the ages. Offered as an optional upgrade for Mustang Memories show goers, this night was the kind of experience that would give any Mustang fan chills.
Over 60 Mustang heroes were on hand, from modern-day heroes like Dave Pericak, and Global Performance Vehicle Chief Engineer, Jamal Hameedi to legends like Neil Resler and Jack Telnak it was a star-studded gathering. The club made them all honorary members that night.
Named for an automotive icon that carved his name permanently in Mustang lore, the Lea Iacocca award is given to those showing Dedication To Excellence In Perpetuating An American Automotive Tradition. We can’t think of a more deserving person than our pal John Clor, the Performance Group Enthusiast Communications rep at Ford. Here Mike Rey presented the plaque to John in front of an amazing audience of Mustang heroes and fans.
“We had our current chief engineer, Dave Pericak, just tear the roof off the place as we introduced the right-hand drive Mustang to the entire world live for the first time ever!†Mike said in his post-event wrap-up. “Dave drove me into the middle of the CEC in a brand-new 2015 Anniversary edition Mustang to start off the evening!â€
Before the duo drove in, Dave wowed the crowd via a live video feed of his smoky burnout using the heralded line-lock feature. We have to say they know how to start a party. The burnout kicked off a night of speeches, giveaways, autographs, and fun for all. If you weren’t one of the 500 attendees, you are definitely wishing you were now.
After demonstrating the S550’s new line lock feature on the first right-hand-drive Mustang, Mustang Chief Engineer, Dave Pericak addressed the crowd. As did Raj Nair, Ford’s Group Vice President, Global Product Development. This was Dave’s humorous list of goals for developing the 2015 Mustang. (For the record, your author would like to clarify that my mom doesn’t have a basement, and I have never owned a Toyota!)
Who wouldn’t love to have this hood signed by over 50 Mustang heroes?
Not only is Dave Pericak dedicated to making great Mustangs; he’s also a pretty great showman. After starting off with that fun Top 10 list, he closed his presentation with this funny retrospective. It makes a bold promise regarding the 2015 Mustang, which makes us all the more eager to get behind the wheel.
To close out the banquet, all of the Mustang heroes signed autographs for over 3 hours, much to the delight of the banquet’s attendees.
You have to give major kudos to Mike Rey, the president of the Mustang Owners Club of Southeastern Michigan. He and his club not only put together a great car show, but orchestrated the once-in-a-lifetime Mustang Heroes Banquet.
What a night. Here are all the Mustang heroes surrounding a 50th Anniversary Edition 2015 Mustang!
Mustang Alley
With this year’s Mustang Alley celebrating the Mustang’s 50th birthday, it was time to relocate to a slightly larger venue. It proved a wise choice as the display swelled by 367 cars in 2014.
For 16 years, Ford has hosted a gathering on the third Saturday of August. This year the Mustang Alley event moved to the west a smidge to the intersection at 9 Mile and Woodward in Ferndale, Michigan, so it could expand capacity its capacity beyond the previous limit of 800 cars.
At the 2014 edition, 1,167 cars registered for this display of pony car pride in the thick of the Woodward action. With all the automotive chaos around the motor city, it is great to have this little enclave of Mustangs for Blue Oval fans to focus on. It is typically one of the most crowded spots along the 16-mile stretch of Woodward that hosts the Dream Cruise, and this year the crop of cars did not disappoint.
Jeff Lacina of Track Guys fame was on hand to show off his VMP TVS-supercharged Coyote. Naturally, Jeff made the trip up in time to participate in the track events, as did VMP’s Justin Starkey.
Its windshield adorned by a Ford Racing decal, this yellow 2015 GT might just be the test bed for some of those factory speed parts that S550 owners desire.
Alright, alright, alright… What do we have here? Yup, we got a sneak peek at a new product for S197 Mustangs at the show from Classic Design Concepts. Though the sign is on a 2015 (Is that a hint?) it portends an Illuminated Pony Grille Emblem for 2011-2014 ’Stangs, with an ’05-’09 version in the works. It lights up your horse with LEDs…
A Coyote fully upgraded with Ford Racing’s Cobra Jet intake and matching cold-air intake is pretty cool in its own right. However, this one takes it up a notch with super sanitary detailing that brings the car’s black-and-white theme underhood.
Dropping the top in your modded Mustang can make it hard to hear your tunes. We are pretty sure this Mustanger has enough audio horsepower to get the job done.
Paxton’s Novi 2000 supercharger was one of the most flexible superchargers of the Fox era. From boosting street cars with 8 psi to powering 9-second race cars it did it all. It’s not often that street-going Novi ’Stangs were intercooled, but this sweet Cobra is so equipped.
Traveling the country to raise money for WoundedWarriorsFamilySupport.org, this GT500 has appeared at numerous Mustang events. At each stop, people are encouraged to show their support for our wounded soldiers by signing the car. As you can see, the car is covered with signatures, which is a great thing to see. You can follow the car’s travels and donate at Highfivetour.com.
If you’ve ever driven a 2000 Cobra R or a New Edge with a replica splitter, you know it can be a nerve-wracking experience. We thought a Cobra R splitter was enough, but this owner apparently really likes the modern Boss 302 race cars, so he added a splitter to his splitter.
Mustang Memories
The Mustang Owners Club Southeastern Michigan knows how to put on a show. From the Mustang Heroes banquet on Thursday to the big Mustang Memories show on Sunday, this club clearly put a lot of work into its events.
Dating back to 1975, the Mustang Owners Club Southeastern Michigan has celebrated the Mustang, and it has been hosting shows. Its annual Mustang Memories show has become part of the Woodward vernacular for Ford Fans, and it has taken place at impressive sites like Ford’s world headquarters.
Like Mustang Alley, this show also relocated in 2014. You can’t knock its new spot, however. This the show was held at the Ford Product Development Center. Yes, a car show at the place where Ford tests its pre-production and production vehicles is just about as cool as it gets. Besides, the new location allowed the show to accommodate more cars.
Your author has a soft spot for Chrome Yellow 1998 Cobras, and this droptop looks showroom fresh. As much as we love modding cars, it’s always the stockers that bring the memories rushing back.
Another change for this year was dropping the judging aspect of the show, which definitely made for a more relaxed environment. That really helped on the morning of the show, when there was a bit of rain. It didn’t scare people off, as they weren’t worried about having a perfectly clean car. As such, 1,218 cars showed up.
Those that did participate picked up a pretty sweet goody bag and a commemorative plaque just for coming out. That swag was so nice, some of it went for good money on eBay after the show. That’s just the kind of event that MOCSEM puts on.
We love all performance here, but this is SVTP, after all. When we see a row of Cobras that climbs the family tree, we are going to snap a shot. And, yes, that’s the Novi-blown Cobra again. He gets around.
Did we mention the SVT Homecoming was part of the Mustang Memories show? It’s not every day you see one of the 107 1993 Cobra Rs in the flesh. It was definitely cool to see one alongside its younger cousins.
A sponsor of the show, Watson Engineering was on and to show off a number of its cars and products. You might first think of drag racing when you mention Watson, but they obviously know how to turn corners, as evidenced by this NASA Spec Iron ride.
Of course, Watson does a little bit of drag racing too. They show off this Cobra Jet as well. It’s really cool to see how the factory sets up a pure drag Coyote. We know that positive-displacement blowers don’t like inlet restrictions. Well the Whipple atop this CJ Coyote can breathe freely. That Ford Racing inlet is simply massive.
We are still waiting on 2015 Mustangs to hit the streets, but you will wait a little longer before you see these at your local stoplight. Yes, convertibles are coming, but fastbacks will arrive first. Either way this yellow S550 looks sharp.
A distinctly different yellow Mustang is this Fox. Talk about a blast from the past. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a pushrod 5.0 with a cut and welded truck intake fed by a Vortech. This intake mod was the move to make before all the commercially available 5.0 intakes hit the market. Yes, there was a time when the Mustang didn’t have instant aftermarket support.
We can see why this twin-turbo Fox took home top honors at last year’s AmericanMuscle.com car show. Its engine compartment is clean and purposeful. We can only imagine how much fun it is to drive this one.
