Nifty Fifty: Mustang 50th Celebration - Charlotte, NC
Mustang enthusiasts from all over the world converge to celebrate our favorite Pony car.http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...y-Fifty-Mustang-50th-Celebration-Charlotte-NChttp://www.svtperformance.com/forum...y-Fifty-Mustang-50th-Celebration-Charlotte-NC
Mustang enthusiasts from all over the world converge to celebrate our favorite Pony car.http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...y-Fifty-Mustang-50th-Celebration-Charlotte-NChttp://www.svtperformance.com/forum...y-Fifty-Mustang-50th-Celebration-Charlotte-NC
“There’s nothing more fun than blasting down the road in Mustang, and then looking at people when you pull up to a stoplight,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said during the opening ceremonies of the Mustang 50th Birthday Celebration at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on April 17, 2014.
Well, Mustang fans blasted down roads from all parts of the country and world to arrive at one stoplight in front of the car’s 50th birthday celebration held in and around the speedway. Many cars caravanned from California in the Mustangs Across America or Oklahoma in the Pony drive, while others made their own way. All of them seemed to show up at once on Thursday morning, as the traffic leading into the event was significant.
While it’s too early to have any official attendance figures, we can tell you that the event is huge. Hotel parking lots for miles around have a significant Mustang presence, and the first two days at the track were really busy. Fans waited in daunting lines to buy T-shirts, sign up for rides around the track, and receive free celebration kits and toy cars.
What’s significant about this year’s event compared with prior birthday celebrations is the mix of cars. It seems with each birthday, the Mustang fan base embraces the modern Mustangs even tighter. For example, the 2015 Mustang rotating at the center of the Ford display is the clear celebrity of the event. Onlookers snapping photos and taking video have surrounded it for much of the show.
Certainly there are a lot of special ’64-’73 Mustangs present—including some really rare examples and original-owner cars—but the number of modern cars is striking. We can’t remember seeing this ratio of modern Mustangs at previous celebrations. It’s especially amazing to see so many special S197s, like Bosses and GT500s, in one place. It’s even more fun seeing them speed around the racetrack.
While the celebration has been great so far, weather rolled in late Friday afternoon and looks to stay for most of the day on Saturday. So, we thought it was a good time to give you a taste of what the event’s been like so far by sharing 50 images from the Mustang’s 50th birthday. We’ll have more coverage in the coming days, but for now enjoy a look at the Mustang’s big five oh.
-EditorTurner
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