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Ford Mustangs & Mustangs, Legends Havin' Fun Car Show - Putting Legends TogetherOn The Ground And In The Air, Mustangs Are A Sight To Behold From the July, 2006 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan Photography by Greg Clark, Mark Houlahan
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Over the years, we've been to many big Mustang shows where a club has pulled some strings, called in a favor, or just outright paid someone to have a P-51 Mustang airplane there. The Mustang Club of America has done it, and we've heard of other shows where there have been fly-overs of the famed P-51, but to our knowledge, the Mustangs & Mustangs, Legends Havin' Fun show is one of the few-if not the only Mustang and Ford-powered show-to be held at an aviation attraction or museum, in this case Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. Kermit has an unbelievable collection of aircraft, including Major George Preddy's P-51D Mustang and a P-51C. The P-51C is painted in the famed Tuskegee Airmen color scheme of Lt. Col Lee Archer, and is one of only four "C"s left in the world. You'll also find other famous aircraft, including a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator, a Ford Tri-Motor, an AT-6, a Wildcat, a Zero, a Spitfire, a Corsair, and much more. Fantasy of Flight is a great location for a car show, even if you're not a history buff or fan of aviation. The Imperial Mustangs of Polk County is the show's host, and does an admirable job of producing this show (now in it's ninth year), including an MCA National three-day event last year. The one-day show is usually held close to the Experimental Aircraft Association's Sun-N-Fun fly-in in nearby Lakeland, Florida, to allow privately owned P-51s (and replica planes) to fly into the Mustangs & Mustangs show and add to the excitement with low altitude fly-overs, barrel rolls, stunts, and so on. It's a popular-vote-style show, and people come from all around (and often from out of state) to enjoy the laid-back style without the strain of serious judging. The quality of cars is always high, and we're amazed at the amount of Ford-powered cars we always see at this show. This year, we spotted two Panteras, a gaggle of Falcons, some killer classic F-series, a beautiful classic T-bird, a '40s Lincoln, and numerous Mustangs. As we walked among the 300-plus cars in attendance, it was difficult to pick favorites, but we wanted to share some of our finds with our readers. Our hats are off to the people at Fantasy of Flight and the Imperial Mustangs of Polk County for putting on such a great show. Hope to see you there next year.  Didler Benichou of Riverview,...  Didler Benichou of Riverview, Florida, shared this sharp-looking '68 coupe with the crowd. The Shelby 10-spoke wheels are a nice touch, as are the over-body stripes. The build book on the driver's fender detailed the complete project for those interested.  We spotted this '67 GTA coupe...  We spotted this '67 GTA coupe (the tailpanel appliqu is always a nice option, we think) and zoomed in for a closer look. Ken Badgley of Brooksville, Florida, nicely modified his GTA with a Shelby scooped hood, a rear spoiler (GT/CS style), and Magnum 500s...  ...Underhood, the big-block...  ...Underhood, the big-block sports a Cobra oval air-cleaner housing, a Mallory distributor, and other goodies.  Here's a story we're sure...  Here's a story we're sure you'll enjoy as much as we did...  ...We were intrigued by the...  ...We were intrigued by the "original owner" signage on this Sauterne Gold '66 Fairlane GT and discovered that Glynn Johnson of Lake Alfred, Florida, had bought the Fairlane brand-new (trading in a '63 Fairlane for it) as a graduation present for his son...  ...Problem was, his son wanted...  ...Problem was, his son wanted something else, so Glynn kept the 390 GT Fairlane for himself. After all these years, the original paint is in great shape, and the 'Lane shows only minor wear and tear...  Remember the F-series we mentioned...  Remember the F-series we mentioned earlier? Like we said, there were several, from modified 5.0 EFI-powered trucks to this shining example owned by Donald Wekle of Longwood, Florida. His '53 F-100 looks sharp in its original paint scheme and has a few minor custom touches.  Falcons, Falcons everywhere!...  Falcons, Falcons everywhere! The Suncoast Chapter of the Falcon Club of America usually has a mini-meet at the Fantasy of Flight show, and this year they had several cars in attendance. From restored four-door Falcons to high-performance, modified, early two-doors, and, of course, Falcon-based Rancheros, they were all great-looking cars.  This year the show included...  This year the show included a mobile dyno for those curious as to what their Ford-powered ride was putting to the tire. While we saw a steady stream of late-models waiting for the chance to put up the big number, we caught a few classic rides on the rollers, including IMPC member Dave LaRocco's '66 GT fastback.  The details, such as the body-color...  The details, such as the body-color engine bay and engine components, the Shelby-look exterior, the rollbar, the polished wheels, and more all added up to a nice package that really caught our attention...  ...As a show sponsor, Mustang...  ...As a show sponsor, Mustang & Fords had the honor of picking an editor's choice at the show. We chose Karl Stead's '66 restomod fastback from Plant City, Florida.
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