1st Annual Windermere Car Show

Got up this morning bright and early to go meet some Members of the MFMC for breakfast.



After the good eats, we trailed over to the Windermere car show, put on by Windermere, FL and "The Muscle Car Network". We had 8 cars at breakfast and another 2 were at the show later, so 10 members showed up the the show. The spots filled up quickly at the show, we were among the first to arrive at 8:05am, so after last minute detailing we watched all the cars pull in. There was a little of everything at the show from Mustangs, to classics, and some exotics too. A few of my favorites were:

A 1965 "Rolls Royce Silver Cloud"


A 1969 "Cord"


A 1942 "Packard 180"


And This 1956 Cadillac.


It was pretty warm out there, but we were able to stay in the shade for most of the morning and afternoon, and a free scoop of ice-cream helped a bit too. Of course all the cars too take pictures of, and hanging out with my MFMC mates, made it all worth it. Aside from a few glitches, and not having enough classes to satisfy the crowd (late model muscle not really included AT ALL), they put on a pretty good show. I bet if this show happens again nest year, they will have worked out all the kinks...

2011 Mustang GT 5.0 Liter V-8, June 6th, 2010

Went to test drive the new Mustang today, and I must say I liked it quite a bit. The difference in HP was noticeable, and she was a little more throaty than my 2010. The red line is set at 6800 RPM, I was pushing 100 in 3rd on the back roads by the dealership with her growling the whole time. The 6 speeds are easy to shift between with the short throw shifter, though the clutch was way too loose for me, but that could be tweaked. The power assist steering and stiffer suspension were very nice sliding through the corners at 30. The salesman told me to drive it like I stole it, and appeared oddly comfortable when I did just that.

I was quite tempted to trade my car in today, and pick up the new one tomorrow. They made it very easy, no money down and $10,000 left to pay at around $150.00 a month. I have to tell you I turned into a little kid at the candy store at this point. However, I would lose the convertible and my great sound system, as the new car would have been a coup without the shaker 1000. The cons outweighed the pros (with a little help from my wife), and I decided it was better to stick with my original idea. To make the car I already own (free and clear) more mine than ever, using the money I would spend on the new one. Then, in 3 years when it's the 50th anniversary of the Mustang think about a new one, I am sure there will be something special for that.

So, in the end I drove home in the car I truly love, grinning from ear to ear at my little test drive in the brand new 5.0...

8th Annual Mustang & Ford Show, May 15, 2010

I decided to head on up to Jacksonville for the show put on by the local Mustang Club, after considering it for a while. Money has been pretty tight around here lately, so a Mustang Show certainly wasn't in the budget. However, including it in a cheap family weekend getaway was a clever way to justify it. We logged on to priceline.com Wednesday and booked ourselves a room at the super8 motel, with less than raving reviews (but can you really trust those reviews from disgruntled guests?) we were super excited to be staying there. On Friday we loaded up Beatrix with everything a family would need for a two day adventure two hours from home, mostly toys for my two and a half year old daughter to stay occupied in the hotel room. We arrived just a couple hours later to find the reviews were mostly not accurate, and aside from having to change rooms due to a malfunctioning TV (went black, started squealing, and the smell of ozone filled the room) we were quite happy (worth every penny of the $39 a night we paid!).

Saturday started early (it usually does on car show days) as I was to meet up with the other MFMC members, who had also made the trip to Jacksonville, for breakfast. If you read this blog you will have probably already have guessed who in fact did make the trip, so listing them won't be necessary. However, I will, I have a picture that goes along with it...

Jim, Vic, and I (the "BMC" of the "MFMC")

Also, Val was there in her 07 GT CS, and Joyce accompanied Vic. We met at Dennys at 7am for breakfast before the show, and with me in the lead drove over to Jacksonville landing together. 4 cars and 5 club members, to be expected at a show more than say 20 minutes from home. Personally I like going to shows put on by other clubs, I get to meet new people and see different cars. Also, we want other clubs to come to our shows, it seems only fair that we attend their shows too.

There was a pretty good turnout, I would say about 150 cars all together. Saw some familiar faces, and cars I've seen at other shows. It's nice to see folks that obviously travel for shows as much as or more than I do. There were plenty of cars there I had never seen too, which is the whole point of traveling to a show. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, not too bad in the shade at all, though we had to chase it all day. Fortunately, we were parked near some trees and a grassy knoll so it was pretty easy to find the shade when we needed to. There was also an air conditioned mall area a mere 200 feet from where we were sitting that we could visit to cool off a bit, and purchase things too. As a club we sat and listened for our names to be called for receiving an award, 2 out of our 4 cars won! I won "Silver" and Val won "Bronze" in the "05-09 Stock Mustang" Class.

So, it was a fabulous day with my traveling club mates. Looking forward to the next show...

The family and I stayed in Jacksonville for one more night in our fabulous motel room. We returned home on Sunday, it was a nice little 2 day break from Winter Park, and my Wife was able to take as many baths as her heart desired. We don't have a tub at our home, and I have a Wife that loves baths...