Ford celebrates 45 years of the Mustang at Barber Motorsports Park
It's been 45 years since Ford introduced the Mustang, and the Blue Oval chose Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL as ground zero for the big pony car celebration. Track officials estimated more than 38,000 people came out to see about 2,000 Mustangs on display from 15 different countries, and Autoblog was among the revelers.The Mustang Club of France showed up with a dozen or so 2010 Mustangs they'd rented, Steve Saleen was signing autographs, Ford CEO Alan Mulally made a surprise appearance and the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge had two rounds of competition. There were fully-restored, low-mileage Mustangs trailered in from as far away as California and one dirt-encrusted, 1966 GT350H brought in straight from its 29-year stint in an Alabama shed. All three levels of the track's paddock area were full of Ford's iconic muscle car, as were the grassy fields normally reserved spectator parking.
When the track wasn't being used for racing, vintage and late-model Mustang owners got the chance to see what their cars could really do. The distinctive whine of Roush superchargers melded with bassy roars of 40-year-old small-blocks for a pulse-quickening aural collage, providing a singular soundtrack for the event.
Looming clouds began to gather on Saturday afternoon, but only a few sprinkles had fallen by mid-day Sunday. For the most part, temperatures in the upper 60s made walking around the landscaped track a truly memorable experience.
Happy Birthday, Mustang. Here's looking forward to another forty five!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EXP Jawa 8:37AM (4/20/2009)
'66 GT500H? You might want to double check that...
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Chris Tutor 8:46AM (4/20/2009)
Whoops. Thanks for the catch, EXP. Now corrected.
JayP 9:08AM (4/20/2009)
Photo #42- What is that?
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EXP Jawa 9:36AM (4/20/2009)
The same car is shown in #53. Looks like it's trying to channel a '69 Boss 302...
Tourian 9:26AM (4/20/2009)
I live here and damn, there were Mustangs EVERYWHERE all weekend. It was insane. There were even old 5.0 Interceptors with light bars on the roof. Didn't even think that was legal. It was an interesting weekend to be driving around in an Evo, that's for sure.
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Tim 9:46AM (4/20/2009)
I love photo #49 with the yellow GT500 edging out the blue GT on the track. New Background :) Wonder what they'd say if I'd showed up in my mustang based '67 cougar?
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David(Postal) 9:53AM (4/20/2009)
This was an absolutely amazing weekend I will never forget. I am a member of the Magic City Mustangs here in Birmingham and helped out during the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Just about every rare Mustang showed up and so many ran around the track. Amazing sights and sounds everywhere! I never thought I would become numb to seeing white w/ blue stripes GT 350s.
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izorro 10:25AM (4/20/2009)
Many what I wouldn't give to have one or to have just been there...
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aj121489 2:59PM (4/20/2009)
Dude I would've been in heaven
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Lotus Lover 12:57PM (4/21/2009)
Chris, thank you for sharing all of these great pics! As usual, I missed what was happening around the park while volunteering in the Museum. This is great!!
Like you, I met wonderful folks from all over the globe: France, Germany, Norway, Australia, New Zealand - and yes, California, and while at times there was the occasional language barrier, we could all communicate about one thing - cars!
Interestingly enough, the Mustang Concept car (which was on display in the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum along with Mustang 001) originally sported tires that were made by Lotus, and quite often Colin Chapman, Founder of Lotus, used Ford power plants in his cars.
The BVMM has the largest collection of Lotus Race Cars in the world and needless to say, there were a lot of surprised looks when the Ford name was spotted on the placards or on the cars themselves. I had so much fun sharing the rich racing history between Lotus and Ford with all of the Mustang Fans who stopped in to visit and they really were a fantastic crowd to experience!
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John 5:46AM (4/22/2009)
I have attended a few of the big anniversary shows, and this was by far the best. The Barber Motorsport Park is amazing. Note that the anniversaries are organized by the Mustang Club of America, not Ford, but Ford did a great job in supporting the show and put on an excellent display.
As shown in the pics, Vaughn Gittin JR was there in his 2010 Falken Mustang and put on several drifting shows each day along with another Mustang. Vaughn traveled to the show in a 2010 Shelby GT500 supplied by Ford along with hundreds of other Mustangs in the Mustangs Across America caravan which also received support from Ford. Way to go Ford!
On Friday evening over 500 Mustangs with an extensive police escort (even blocking highway lanes and on ramps) as well as a couple dozen police Mustangs paraded down the Interstate to a street party in Birmingham to totally overwhelm all parking and restaurants for several blocks.
The next anniversary show will be the 50th and if Ford and the economy can hold it together it should be outstanding. Ford was even doing some preparation work at this show for the 50th. You've got 5 years to get yourself a Mustang and get ready to be there!
Go Mustang!
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Bluepony66 3:22PM (5/08/2009)
Photo #53 is actually an awesome channeling of a '69 Mach 1.
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