Kicking off the official Mustang Week action with the Meet ’N Greet, an SVTP pizza party, and a little autocrossing
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and StacyStangz
While we got the party started a day early, the official Mustang Week events kick in on Tuesday with the Meet ’N Greet at the Palace Theater. Run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., this event is a free gathering that really sets the tone for the week’s festivities. Think of it as the biggest, happiest midday car show you’ve ever attended.
It’s hard to believe, but every year the Mustang Week Meet ’N Greet seems to swell even larger. This year the parking lot at the Palace Theater was jam-packed and the overflow lot in the grass was near capacity. We really get a feel for how the rest of the event will feel by patrolling the Palace parking lot.
This year we didn’t quite know what to expect. With the Mustang celebrating its 50th year on the planet, there are myriad Mustang-centric events taking place this year, notably the official 50th celebrations that took place back in April in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. Would Mustang fans have to choose one event over another?
Apparently that just wasn’t the case. Mustang Week officially launched stronger than ever. As soon as the theater parking lot opened to Meet ’N Greeters, it filled to the limits and Mustangs overflowed into the grass lot next door to the theater. Wisely, this is where Mustang Week set up its official T-shirt tent, and the line to score official swag was longer than we have ever seen it.
Clearly, Mustang Week is so much fun that you definitely want to rock your official gear back home to let people know you attended. We can’t blame those waiting in line, as putting on a Mustang Week shirt during the other 51 weeks of the year always puts a little smile on our faces.
Speaking of smiling faces, there were plenty of those at our event near the event, the SVTP Pizza at the Cruise-In. Members sought shelter from the rain and were able to enjoy a slice and rub elbows with other SVTPers and vendors from the site. Just like our Welcome Party the previous night, all had good times and good food.
Of course, your author loves to squeeze as much life into every day as possible. Life is short, so when there’s a chance to autocross, you take it. As such, I finished off the day killing some cones at the BFG Autocross School.
It was a fantastic first day of official and SVTP activities, and it really set the stage for a great week. If you are Mustang fan and you have never attended Mustang Week, it’s time to move it up to the top of your bucket list.
Meet ’N Greet
If you are familiar with Paul Nemoga’s Villain S197 and its matching trailer, you’ll know why his wife Jeanne felt like she needed a show edge for her SN-95 Cobra. Enter this matching go-cart. Paul acquired the Pace Car cart and painted it to match Jeanne’s ride. We really enjoyed seeing him drive it into the Cruise-In.The beauty of Mustang Week is that you can come and go as you please, choosing the events your really want to attend and vacationing when you want to. However, because of that flexibility and the sheer size of the show, we often see cars once and never run into them again. We did see this clean, Coyote-swapped New Edge Saleen again, but it was disguised by a cloud of smoke in the burnout contest. It’s the first of this combination we have seen, and it looked like a fun ride.We can’t imagine keeping pace with Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his RTR crew. While the man himself wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday, his demo car and several RTR Mustangs were on display and the Palace. Just his car was draw enough for fans to swing by and snap lots of pictures. A lucky SVTP member won a drift ride with Vaughn in this car.Proving you don’t have to swap in a Four-Valve engine into your New Edge GT to get better performance is this 2001 Mustang GT owned by Gipson Rumple. While it looks pretty stock on the outside, this Two-Valve features a mod list a mile long. The headlining addition is an Eaton-based Tork Tech supercharger kit rounded out by all the supporting hardware it needs to put down 377 horsepower and 389 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. The car has run a best of 12.4 seconds at 115 mph on the quarter mile.We aren’t sure who gets out to more events, SVTP or Wayne and Debbie Vance? We have seen their Coyote-swapped SVO at events near and far. The couple really loves to get out and enjoy this beautiful Fox. We can’t really say we blame them either. If we had a Whipple-supercharged Coyote in a Fox, we’d be rocking in around the country too.Engine swaps are pretty common, but Lightning swaps are not quite as mainstream. We still manage to run across one or two at shows, and this one is looking sharp in flat black and the green accents in the engine compartment attract even more attention to the massive Two-Valve 5.4.Clean and classic, this street/strip Fox brought offered a nice back to the future vibe thanks to its Weld hoops and Vortech-blown small-block. Controlled by a speed-density AEM fuel injection system, the non-intercooled Vortech simply vents excess boost right into the atmosphere. On the inside, the Fox sports the coveted black interior and a full brace of Auto Meter gauges.You can always gauge the interest in Mustang Week by the attendance at the Meet ’N Greet. This year the Palace Theater parking lot swelled to capacity within minutes of the official 10 a.m. start time. After that, cars filled up the grass lot next door. As you can see it was jammed too, and that line of people in the background? It was the Mustang Week T-shirt line and it led to that white tent way back there.It is quite popular for people to hang out around the entrance to the Palace parking lot to watch, photograph, and record the cars going in and out of the Meet ’N Greet. We dropped by to snap a few shots of the cars leaving the scene, but then a storm rolled in and brought an end to the party at the Palace. Fortunately, the fun continued over at the Mellow Mushroom…
SVTP Pizza at the Cruise-In
As an added bonus for SVTP members attending the Mustang Week Meet ’N Greet, we hosted an informal gathering at the Mellow Mushroom right across the street from the Palace Theater.The timing worked out well, as those fleeing the rain could warm up with a slice. We provided the pizza and wings, and the members supplied the great conversation.
BFG Autocross School
After enjoying some pizza and good times with fellow SVTP members, your author made a move out to Myrtle Beach Speedway to attend BFGoodrich’s Autocross School. This school offers a great opportunity to learn car control in a low-key environment, and get ready for the official Mustang Week autocross runs on Wednesday. I attended the Stage 1 introductory class last year, but this time around I opted for the Stage 2 advanced school.I arrived just in time for the classroom instruction and as I walked up to the BFG trailer, one of the instructors said that I brought the ringer. Yes, my little 2014 Fiesta ST press ride was the lone hot hatch in a class full of Mustangs. It is Mustang Week after all, but the little ST is simply built for tight cornering through the cones. It turned out that the Molten Orange pocket rocket turned in the quickest lap on the course with a sub-38-second run. It certainly felt great doing it.
Great pics Steve! Man I wish we were still at Mustang Week
Thanks D! At least you can re-live Mustang Week on SVTP this week. 🙂
EditorTurner – Thanks for featuring my eaton swap GT!
No problem. You have a nice car!
The saleen 5.0 swap was definitely seen more than twice, it was in the burnout contest.
That’s a beautiful car. Thanks for participating in the contest!