ALTON, Ill. – This year, the Southern Illinois Mustang Association celebrated its 40^th year as a regional Mustang Club of America organization, which makes it one of the oldest in the country. So that’s why they named their annual show this year the “40^th Anniversary Mustang and All Ford Car Show,” which was held on July 15, 2017, at Roberts Ford in Alton, Illinois. Speaking of anniversaries, 2017 also happens to be special for Roberts Ford, who is celebrating its 50th year as a Ford dealership in Alton. So when Ford Performance was invited to attend the show – one of the top Mustang and Ford shows in the St. Louis metro area – how could we say no?

It was no surprise that our Ford Performance Meet & Greet tent was busy all day, talking Mustangs and handing out free Shelby GT350 color posters to all who stopped by. What might have surprised those who haven’t yet attended a Southern Illinois Mustang Association event was the number and variety of high-quality Mustangs and Fords at the show. After watching a group of enthusiasts assemble a Model T form a mere pile of parts and drive it off, we stuck around for the awards, which the club had modeled after the Mustang’s own 40^th Anniversary logo badge (very cool!). Thanks to some tent help we received from Mitch and Karen Mitchell of the Show Me Mustang Club of St. Louis, we were able to sneak away for a few minutes to snap photos of some of the fine Fords on display on the dealership lot. We’ve chosen some of our favorites for inclusion in the gallery below.

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY JOHN M. CLOR