Fabulous
Fords Forever-1999
celebrating
past and future Ford cars
FabFord
show Buena
Park, California
Sunday,
18 April 1999
This
year's FFF event celebrated "The 35th Anniversary of the
Mustang."
Judy
and I attended this annual Ford mega-bash at Knott's Berry Farm,
as much for our own entertainment as to cover the event for Cobra
Country. Ford bills it as "The largest all-Fords
carshow in North America." This was a titanic
event, with nearly 2,000 FoMoCo products of every variety and
vintage on display (from Model T's to '40 'Woodies' to '59 Skyliners
to '65 Mustangs to a 2001 Concept Car), approximately 30,000 spectators
and over 800 photojournalists and media persons. There was no
aerial tower available for me to fire off any panoramic shots,
which would have provided you with some idea of the scale of the
show. This photo montage includes a dozen or so shots I took as
we meandered around the miles of aisles under an azure blue sky.
It was 95°F (35°C) in the shade, the hottest day of the
year in southern California thus far, with sunscreen in even greater
demand than Michelob draft. Curt Scott
Above: One of several
lineups of Cobras and Cobra replicas at the show.
Above: ... and
there were several GT40s on display.
Above: Los Angeles
SAAC's booth at the event: inside, the Dynamic Duo of purveyers
of Cobra memorabilia: that's Shelby trooper Herlita Natividad
on your right; on your left is the effervescent and ever-cheerful
Bob Shaw of (Cobra replica parts & memorabilia outfitter)
Operations Plus helping
Herlita run LA SAAC's booth.
Above: Hank Williams
shows up at all the west coast Shelby gatherings. He purchased
that original 289 "slab-side" Cobra in 1964... making
his car one of a very select stable of one-owner original Shelby
Cobras.
Above: That's Michael
Kahn (Northridge, California) alongside his 427 Contemporary roadster;
beside him (in his trademark "Smokey the Bear/county mountie"
headgear is Trigo's Lynn Park (whose 1966 red 427 roadster is
unfortunately just outside the photo). Lynn did ask me to observe
that those are genuine Trigo wheels
on Michael's roadster...
Above
two photos:
Ford's "2001 prototype" 2-seater Thunderbird
was a hit of the show. It was displayed alongside the very first
2-seater T-bird, which rolled off the assembly line in September,
1954.
Above: A "Mach
III" Mustang
Above: Ford's "Special
Vehicle Engineering"
displayed some that unit's 2-seater concept cars, including the
Indigo Roadster, and (at the right) a white, 720.hp GT90 coupe,
which in some styling cues hints of Ford's GT40s of the 1960s.
Above: This showroom-condition
1963 blue Ford Falcon Futura convertible was a certified crowd-stopper.
Above: This 1953
Ford Crestline 'Indianapolis Official Pace Car"
was on display.
Above: FoMoCo's
most charming spokesperson Lindsay Wagner
was there, cheerfully signing autographs, lookin' good even in
the sweltering heat du jour.
More
than 24 car clubs were in attendance, including:
Lincoln
Continental Owners' Club
New
Zealand Mustang Club
Fun
Ford Sunday Council
Other
bylines of the event: In addition to celebrating the 35th Anniversary
of the Ford Mustang, 1999 also represents these anniversaries:
40th Anniversary of the Ford Galaxie; 60th Anniversary of Mercury,
and the 75th Anniversary of Lincoln.
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