WHAT’S HAPPENING – Don’t want to wait until National Mustang Day in April to take your Ford Mustang out to play? Then plan a road trip from March 24th through the 29th to attend one of the hottest shows to come on the scene in years. It’s called “Ponies In the Smokies,” and includes six days of Mustang fun -- cruising the beautiful Smoky Mountains, outdoor and indoor car shows (with 108,000 square feet of indoor show cars, vendors and special displays), plus Cruise-In and Shine Run parties, a BFG Driving School, Autocross and Drive-A-Longs by Gateway Mustang, Driving Experiences at Newport Speedway, a Drifting Exhibition and Ride-Alongs, a burnout competition, drag racing at Knoxville Dragway, plus a Car Corral, Swap Meet, Dyno Pulls and much more, including huge National Parts Depot car shows on Friday and Saturday.
You’ll notice that Ponies in the Smokies – otherwise known as “PITS” – features driving and not just showing, with the Shine Runs intended as leisure drives plus travel both ways on the famous “Tail Of The Dragon,” which is the name for US Highway 29’s 318 curves in just 11 miles (known as America’s top motorcycle and sports car driving road). Ford Performance Club Connect plans to be at both shows that weekend, so stop by our Meet-and-Greet tent and get a FREE Mustang poster just for saying hello, and also get a free Ford Performance wristband for visiting the adjacent Ford Special Vehicle Registry display to hear the benefits of registering your Mustang with Ford. It all happens at the Sevierville, Tennessee, Convention Center from Monday March 24 through Saturday, March 29. You can get all the info on show registration, lodging, the full schedule of events and more on the PITS website, https://poniesinthesmokies.com/
Enthusiasts Make a ‘Spec Commercial’ Video for Reveal on March 9 to Honor 60 Years of Mustang
Every once and a while, a group of grassroots Mustang enthusiasts become so passionate about their beloved Ford Pony Car that they do something special to let the whole world know about it. That’s just what happened when a several Mustang owners, racers and fans in the Midwest decided to team up with some filmmaking creative types to create their own promotional video tribute to mark 60 years of the Ford Mustang. This privately funded “spec commercial” video was not affiliated or sponsored by Ford, but rather was spearheaded by a group of Mustang loyalists in the Columbus, Ohio, area and a media production company called Cinelescence LLC. After nearly a year of working together on the project, the group now wants to share their video tribute with the rest of the Mustang community. They’ve announced a premiere screening event of their “60th Anniversary Mustang Spec Commercial” at the Gale Halderman Museum, 6476 U.S. Hwy 40, Tipp City, OH 45371 on March 9th, 2025 at 12 noon. You’ll get to see the film, meet the creators, attend a “Mustang 60 Years” presentation by Ford Performance Club Connect, tour the museum and get a commemorative Mustang 60 Years poster just for being there. If you can’t attend the premiere in person, you’ll be able to see it and share it online that Sunday evening, March 9, 2025, on the Cinelescence YouTube channel.
Purely a passion project, this 60th Anniversary Mustang Spec Commercial explores the Mustang’s rich heritage through the heartfelt story of a grandfather reflecting on his family’s four-generation connection to the iconic brand. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Freddie Connor and shot by international cinematographer Dan Buckley, this cinematic tribute captures the Mustang’s legacy through a storyline set across four eras – the 1940s, the 1960s, the 1990s, and modern day. “This is an unsponsored, community-driven project created as a tribute to the iconic Mustang,” says Connor. The racing scenes were filmed at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in collaboration with Team Blitz Racing, led by Norm Murdock. Separately, Mustang enthusiasts collaborated to bring the brand’s evolution to life, with each vehicle carefully selected to represent different eras in the story.
Renowned British composer Rupert Uzzell, known for his work on the BAFTA-nominated The Fabric of You, crafted an original score for this spec commercial. Karen (Halderman) Koenig made her Gale Halderman Mustang Museum available for the screening to honor her late father’s Mustang legacy on March 9th, -- the day historians say the very first Mustangs were produced by Ford. Connor and Buckley felt this would be the perfect way to honor the Mustang’s rich history and Gale Halderman’s incredible contribution to the brand. And on-site support from Ford Performance Club Connect helps to amplify Mustang’s rich history and share this project within the Mustang enthusiast community. For more info, email contact@cinelescence.com. We hope you check out this grassroots Mustang tribute at the Halderman Museum on March 9th, or online here.
Want to Be Noticed on Ford Performance.com? Get You and Your Car(s) in Our ‘Ford Fan Spotlight’
For more than a decade now, one of the most popular features on FordPerformance.com and in our Fast News e-newsletter continues to be "Ford Fan Spotlight," where readers can send in their own reasons why they're fans of Ford Motor Company. You know who they are: Ford "superfans;" grassroots Ford racers; unique Ford vehicle owners; loyal Ford enthusiasts; notable Ford club people; special Ford families; and/or any avid supporter of Ford, Ford vehicles, Ford motorsports or Ford Performance who deserves a little bit of special recognition.
All you need to do to get you, your car or candidate considered is to send in a brief description (200-500 words or less) and a few photos (in .jpeg format, preferably 1 mb) of a person (full name and hometown, please) and vehicle that you think Ford Performance should feature (and why) in the "Ford Fan Spotlight" for an upcoming installment of Fast News and posting on FordPerformance.com. Then email it to: ClubHub@Ford.com. (Your submission grants us your permission for us to use your copy and photos on our website and other Ford media outlets, edited as necessary.) We'll choose one submission to be featured online every three weeks. We hope to see YOU and your collectible Ford in our Fan Spotlight soon!
