AmericanMuscle.com’s massive car show attracted over 10,000 fans, and it raised lots of money for Special Olympics
By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of AmericanMuscle.com and by Brian Warcup
Every year, one of the largest Mustang events on the East Coast, if not the planet, takes place at the behest of AmericanMuscle.com. If you are into 1979-and-newer Mustangs, you have undoubtedly heard of this company. More than likely, you are one of its customers.
This year’s AmericanMuscle.com car show took a much-needed trip to Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. The relocation was needed because the show keeps growing. This year it attracted over 2,600 show cars and over 10,000 spectators.
That said, you know the company does things in a big way. From a fleet of project cars to a library of professional videos, this outfit is all in with the Mustang experience. As such, it should be no surprise that when it hosts a yearly show, the numbers are huge, and they seem to keep growing. Owners traveled from as far as Canada to Hawaii to attend this year.
Over 2,600 show cars flooded the grounds at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. Registration was maxed out, and the AmericanMuscle.com staff handed out over 3,000 T-shirts and swag bags to registered participants. Even with a crew of 18 judges, it took them over five hours to judge the field.
While the show was huge, there was far more going on than just a car show. Most importantly, the AM crew uses the show to help generate money for charities. This year’s beneficiary was the Special Olympics, which received over $35,000. A whopping $4,300 of that came from the Red Mustang Registry, which attended in force with over 125 cars.
Looking like the main stage at Lollapalooza, the Bama Performance Dyno Competition attracted spectators like bees to honey. In another example of Coyote ’Stangs taking over the world, this competition was won by a 2014 GT with a massive turbocharger. It put down 926 to the feet despite losing traction on the rollers.
Moreover, the AM crew really supercharged this year’s event with a myriad of activities and celebrity appearances. More than just a static event, it featured the BBK Performance Revving Competition, the Bama Performance Dyno Challenge, and the Roush Performance Burnout Contest. Yes, there was a buzz of activity that drew huge crowds.
Likewise, celebrity guests like Chip Foose and Vaughn Gittin Jr. attracted crowds of their own. Each selected cars for personal awards, while Chip was on hand to announce the winner of MMD’s Mustang Giveaway. After that, Chip let it out that he and Modern Muscle Design had joined forces to build the company’s next SEMA/Giveaway project.
As announced by Chip Foose at the show, Zachary Villareal, a 19-year-old Mustang fan from Alice, Texas, was the big winner of MMD’s 2014 Mustang project giveaway.
Whew. That’s a lot to pack into one show day, and for those that couldn’t get enough, they were offered a discount to stay around and participate in Maple Grove’s regular test ’n tune night at the drag strip.
Rest assured that the AM team is already working on next year’s big show, and as soon as we have the dates, we’ll let you know. You’ll want to plan on attending it, especially if you’ve never been before.
Sponsored by BBK Performance, the Rev Competition drew a huge crown. It should come as no surprise that a high-revving Coyote stole the show in this contest.
As we know from our own burnout contest, it takes more than just a smoke show to take home the prize. This New Edge drifter smoked the tires and did a figure eight to take the crown.
The biggest news to come out of this show was the reveal by Vaughn Gittin Jr. of the design for his 2015 Mustang RTR.
If you want to keep the hobby growing, you definitely want to take your kids out to car events. It was great seeing these young racers working on their reaction times.
If you’ve ever shopped at AmericanMuscle.com—and who hasn’t?—you feel like you need a shopping cart this big. However, the company does give back big as well. This year it donated a whopping $35,503.02 to the Special Olympics.
It certainly doesn’t hurt show attendance when there’s an army of AmericanMuscle.com girls on hand…
After the car show ended, attendees could take advantage of a healthy discount on the evenings test ’n tune festivities. Clearly, Al Davis wasn’t going to pass up the chance to make some hits in his mega-power Coyote ’Stang.
The beauty of a Fox hatchback is that you can fit a lot of fun in the back. Moreover, it’s easy to access, and in the case of Jeff Andrews’ 1986, it is easy to show off the goods. Jeff packed his hatch with an upgraded audio system and a little bit of nitrous to offset the weight of the audio equipment.
A familiar car for those that hit Mustang Week this year (or saw our coverage) was Becky Aurenz’s beautiful Mystic Mach 1. This stunning New Edge ’Stang draws a crowd wherever it goes.
A rare touring-themed version from the Roush lineup, this 2009 RTC owned by Anthony Cole sported a Roots-boosted Three-Valve 4.6 and a Roushcentric black over red paint scheme.
Part of a strong Four-Eye Fox contingent was Bill Mentzer’s ’86 Mustang GT. Sure it was wild on the outside with orange paint and flames, but its blown, carbureted small-block took in boost from a skull-shaped inlet wearing braids of nitrous-line hair. This one must be a hit at Halloween car shows.
The wildest car in the show had to be Shawn Miller’s restomodded 1968 Mustang Fastback. Not only did it take on some S197 styling cues, but a TVS-supercharged Coyote powered it!
Catching our attention was this tribute to the US Marines driven by Karen Sandhir of Waltham, Massachusetts. Its desert-camo look played nicely over the car’s black American Muscle wheels.
This show brought an unprecedented level of variety to a one-day automotive event. There was even a tattoo booth on hand applying free tats and, as you might imagine, its time slots filled up quickly.
Did we mention this show was big? It was a good thing they relocated it to Maple Grove Raceway this year!
Automotive design icon Chip Foose was not only on hand to announce the winner of Modern Muscle Design’s project Mustang, but he was on hand to sign autographs in the Magnaflow booth. Chip also said that he and MMD were working on a SEMA project ’Stang that will be given away at next year’s show.
Kudos to the Red Mustang Registry for donating $4,300 to the Special Olympics.
