TIPP CITY, Ohio – One of the best-kept road-trip secrets for Mustang fans across the Midwest is a cruise to the Halderman Mustang Museum in Tipp City, Ohio, just north of Dayton off Interstate 75. Every year, groups of Ford fans from 2 to 200 descend upon the barn museum that anchors the birthplace homestead of the late Gale Halderman, the man who was the principal designer of the original Ford Mustang. Those private visits and a handful of pre-scheduled cruise-ins by area clubs make up the bulk of the tours of this special venue. Perhaps surprisingly, there are only two annual events that take place at this cool little museum known as Halderman’s own personal “man cave.” The first of those is a yearly celebration of National Mustang Day that happens in mid-April, and the second is an annual “Gathering at the Barn” hosted by the Mustang Club of Ohio out of nearby Columbus. The latter is set up as a yearly charity pilgrimage on or around Halderman’s June 14 birthdate, with the club’s car-show proceeds going to help fund museum operations.
While we’ve covered Mustang Day at the Halderman Museum before, the Mustang Club of Ohio invited us to attend their annual gathering here this year – not just to check out the cars owned by their members and those of other nearby Mustang clubs on the grassy show field behind the barn, but also to experience the sense of community that this event has created. To help fill the field, there’s always a good number of regional clubs who attend, and often a notable guest speaker or two to make this show extra special – and that was again the case this year. Retired Mustang designers Bob Aikins (who penned the Mustang SVO) and Bug Magaldi (who led the design of the 1994 Mustang) were the keynote speakers in the barn meeting room, after John Clor of Ford Performance Club Connect kicked off the program with a presentation tribute to Gale Halderman and his Mustang legacy. After a food-truck lunch and some brief mini-tours, Bob and Bud then captivated the audience with insider Mustang stories that had everyone waiting in line afterward for an autograph. The event concluded with celebrity-picked awards, netting the winners some very handsome trophies.
Halderman was inducted into the Mustang Club of America's Mustang Hall of Fame in 2004 and was presented with the prestigious Iacocca Award during the Mustang 50th Celebration in Charlotte, North Carolina. He soon became active in Mustang club events and the Ford enthusiast community. In 2014, Gale and his daughter, Karen, converted the barn on his family’s property in his hometown of Tipp City into the Halderman Museum, which holds a collection of artwork and ads, as well as drawings and memorabilia of all things Ford and Mustang. You’ll also see some of Gale’s original sketches, plus his 2002 Thunderbird, Model T and Model A, and of course Mustangs from each generation in his museum, including Gale’s own 1965 Mustang Fastback and 1966 Mustang Convertible.
Karen and her daughter, Lauren, had decided to keep operating the Halderman Museum after Gale’s passing in 2020 to keep his legacy alive, as long as the Mustang community supports it through donations (there is no admission charge or rental fee) and via the sale of Halderman Museum merchandise. Tours and visits are by appointment only; if you’re not on social media or Facebook, you can find info on the museum’s website: https://haldermanmustang.com.
We’ve gathered some of our favorite photos from the MCO’s 2025 “Gathering at the Barn” event to share with you below. If you think YOUR Mustang club would like to schedule a tour, a club meeting or a cruise-in there, get in touch with Karen and Lauren and you can celebrate the Ford Mustang any time of the year, whether you bring one friend one or 100 of them. We know Gale Halderman would have wanted it that way.
FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / JOHN M. CLOR
