Gary Hanson reports from the 45th:
Clearly the Ford Mustang is an American icon and has been for almost half a century.  As everyone knows the Mustang was designed and built for Americans starting in the mid 1960s.  It was an instant hit in America.  What surprises me the most about the Mustang is how it has become an International icon.  It seems that most of the world loves this American icon.  This was never more in focus than at the 45 Anniversary show in Birmingham.  Mustangs and Mustang enthusiasts from around the world converged at Barber Motorsports Park for three days of everything Mustang.  You just had to listen to the many languages being spoken to appreciate the magnitude of this admiration .  Spanish, Swedish, French, German, Dutch and many others that I was unable to descriper were in constant use.  My understanding is that even Russia was represented at the show.  Does any other automobile have such a active fan base?  I think not. 

While walking by the French delegation I looked in amazement at the 40+  2010 Mustangs all lined up by color.  I thought it looked like a Ford parking lot.  But no, it was just the rental Mustangs from the French delegation, actually set up in their Tricolore (french flag) arrangement.  Amazing! See the picture down on the left side.
 The Mustangers from New Zealand and Australia traveled from Las Vegas to Birningham with Mustangs Across America with approximately 500 other Mustangs to form the largest single make carvan in US history. 

In addition to the many countries represented at the three day show it would seem that every one of the 50 US states had a least one car in Birmingham.  All this in the middle of the largest resession in memory. 

Something like 3000 Mustangs were registered for this show.  They were from all walks of life.  Prestine show cars to daily drivers to works in progress.  They all blended in and each car was appreciated for what it was.  All this for a car had was build to last only a few years.  The Mustang is truly an International icon.  Love live the Mustang!

There was much talk about what the 50 Anniversary show would bring.  I for one can hardly wait!  See you there.   

Gary Hanson
Ford T5 Registry

Meeting old friends is one of the main purposes of a car show. This time I met my long time friend Gary Hanson again.

Actually he had no real source in Germany and that was my first research project to fill some of his registry gaps with more cars from the homeland of the T-5, which was Germany. As you might know, Ford was not allowed to sell Mustangs as Mustangs in Germany from 1964-1978 due to namerights held by Krupp and Kreisler back then.
On the occasion of the 45th we could share a lot of new information on recent finds and some new military order documentation and other stuff provided by Lt. Raphael McCaffrey, who - being stationed in Wilnshofen/Germany had bought back then in 1966 a T-5 and had a long mail conversation about the Styled Steel wheels with Ford that were not available. 

Actually Raphael also digged out a few numbers - most probably provided by the Wixom Export division back then - from an old Hot Rod Mustang issue (1986/page 88) about T-5 (we think) exports. In 1964 they exported 362 T-5s, throughout 1965 1180 and probably 1966 the same number, which was not mentioned. Those are calendar years, not model years, but they give a better clue about the number of the early T-5s, says Raphael.
Raphael tried to dig out export material over the decades, but could not get hold of anything that would further help. The Wixom office at 153 Halsey St. Newark N.J. has long gone as we knew from our swiss friend Iso Schwager, who had been there..

Author: Wolfgang Kohrn/Gary Hanson

The french club built a hardly noticed 2010 Mustang TRICOLORE scenario with white (o.k. some silver), then red and blue cars. Some might have thought those were the Mustang emblem colors.

Tough to see the Tricolore set-up from this viewpoint, but our french friends and ex-MCDF-president Monsieur Charles Vesnat, who now lives in the US did some extra deals to get the right cars at the right time for all his mates from the Mustang Club de France. They also had their own booth in the vendors area to welcome lost french-speaking and other visitors. The Mustang mates from Mustang Passion France and Belgium were also present. We met a lot of them around the track.