DEARBORN - We first met Chris Romanoff of Durham, Connecticut, last summer at the Carlisle Ford Nationals after he and his wife attended our seminar on the story behind Ford’s sixth-generation Mustang. “Your talk inspired me to write my ongoing story about my love of the Mustang,” he told us. When he sent his story and photos to us, all we could say was, “Wow!” If you ever wondered about the magic behind owning a Mustang, check out Chris’ lifelong Mustang journey below:

“I’ve always been a Ford guy! My first memories include going to our local Ford dealership with my father in 1968 when I was just four years old. He was taking delivery of a brand-new 1968 Torino coupe. I can vaguely remember the salesman sliding the big glass window open to get the car out of the showroom. I now tease my father that if I were a little older or more astute, I would have dragged him around the back to where the 428 Cobra Jet Mustang GT fastbacks were. Oh, well!

“From there the seed was planted, and I followed all my Dad’s car purchases carefully – from the 1967 Mustang hardtop to the 1973 Mustang Grande. I finally realized my dream when I bought my first car at 15 years old. It was a 1967 Mustang Fastback with a C-code 289, auto, styled steel wheels, woodgrain steering wheel and factory console.

“I restored the car on a limited budget, working part-time while attending high school. My father had a ’67 hardtop that had succumbed to rust and rot, and I was able to use many parts from that car including the engine and transmission, which I rebuilt. It was a great ride for a high school kid but college tuition and the onset of frame rot claimed that car from me. The good news is that I sold it to a guy that did a frame-up restoration and I actually saw the same car on the road around five years ago.

“While I was in college I witnessed with excitement the launch of the 1982 Mustang GT HO. It was great to see a high output 302 V-8 – with its 2-barrel carb, 157 horsepower, 240 foot-pounds of torque, a 0-60 time in 7.5 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 15.88 seconds! From then on I watched closely as the horsepower fever elevated and the new muscle car wars started to rekindle.

“I finally got in the game when I graduated college in 1986 with a 1985 Mustang GT, the last of the carbureted V-8’s. I remember the cool micro switch mounted to the carburetor that would deactivate the accessories when you mashed the accelerator to the floor to give you everything it had! I had reservations on the new fuel injection system and a slight decrease in power in ’86 so I opted for the ‘gas-pumping, cold-stalling’ carbureted version.

“It was around 1987 when I experienced the beauty of fuel injection. I traveled to California for a job interview and my father was stationed out there on a long-term project for business. He picked me up in his rental, which was a 1987 Mustang GT automatic hatchback. One night after dinner when we went out to the parking lot, he tossed me the keys and said, ‘You drive – if you can handle it!’ We had about a 45-minute ride back to the hotel down the California freeway.

“I thought the car was great. Nice ride, power and sound – and it looked cool, too. But what happened next really got me to love the car. About 10 minutes into the ride, a Porsche 911 blew by me. The snooty, elevated-collared, yuppie driver looked over at me as he passed. About 10 seconds went by when my father looked over at me and ever-so-calmly said, ‘You’re not ’gonna let him get away with that, are you?’

“Well, that’s all I had to hear as I mashed the accelerator to the floor. The remainder of the 30-minute ride was full of thrill-packed romps and high-speed passes between me and the Porsche, both drivers yielding to a thumbs-up as I exited the highway. Shortly after that I traded in my ’85 GT for a custom-ordered ’89 LX 5.0 Sport.

“It was a beauty. I had researched the heck out of the 1989 Mustang model-year literature long before the Internet was around. A funny thing happened when I ordered it. I walked into the Ford dealer, sat down with the salesman and I proceeded to rattle off order codes. He scribbled them down furiously and when I barked out the code for the optional 3.08 rear end he said, ‘There is no code for that.’ I scowled and said, ‘Go check!’ After a short period of absence he came back and said, ‘Is there anything else you want to teach me?’ When the car came in, to our surprise it had a 140-mph speedometer in it. Gone was the four-cylinder-based 85 mph unit. Boy, now I really had it all!

“Well, life has a funny way of changing course. Fast-forward to 1993 when I was presented with the words from my wife, ‘Honey, I’m pregnant!’ – which was shortly followed by a For Sale sign in my Mustang. My pride and joy was quickly converted to a new family oriented pride and joy in ’94 and I hit the sidelines for a while to do the ‘responsible thing.’ I watched the end of the Fox Body and closely followed the introduction of the SN-95. I saw the old-favorite 302 Windsor give way to the 4.6L Modular V-8, and I started testing the waters about getting back in the game and nibbled a bit in ’98, but couldn’t quite pull the trigger.

Then, something happened in 2000. I am an engineer and I applied to Ford Motor Company. I was selected and invited to a four-day Engineering Leadership Conference in Dearborn along with 430 other engineers from across the country. It was a huge recruiting and hiring event sponsored by Ford. It was a dream come true for me and I just figured that, if nothing came of it, I would still have the experience of a lifetime. I attended the conference and for those four days I had a great time. I toured assembly plants, including the Focus engine plant. I attended presentations at the Ford World Headquarters building. I was able to drive new Fords on the high-speed oval track and was treated to ride shotgun with Ford test drivers in the infamous 2000 SVT Mustang Cobra, which never saw the marketplace, as well as in the famed Ford SVT F-150 Lightning. I remember when I got in the Lightning the test-driver said, ‘Put your helmet on.’ I looked at him and with a snarky reply I said, ‘Really? It’s only a pick-up truck!’ Well, I think he gave me an extra special drive that day – which almost cost me my lunch!

“Then a special moment came during one of those nights that we were at dinner with a Ford executive in a small group. I was peppering him on the future of the Mustang. I was considering buying a 2001-03 model since I really missed the Mustang experience. He was pretty tight-lipped, as I would expect, but after a few drinks he finally offered me some advice, saying: ‘I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you, I’d wait a bit … wait until you see what Ford has in store for the next-generation Mustang!’

I could only imagine now that at the time, early discussions were being had on the S197. I did decide to wait, and around 2003 I saw my first artist renditions on the so-called ‘retro-style’ future Mustang for 2005. It was an ‘OMG!’ moment for me. Ford did it! They answered my wish. Since I failed in designing a time machine to bring me back to 1967, they answered the call by bringing back the look and bodystyle shape that I fell in love with 20+ years earlier. I researched and read every article published on the fifth-generation Mustang and in 2006, I came off the sidelines and got back in the game with a custom-ordered 2006 GT Premium in Redfire.

“I said to my wife, ‘It can’t get any better than this!’ And she replied, ‘It better not!’ I think I should have kept my mouth shut because it DID get better – A LOT BETTER! The 2007 Shelby GT500 showed up, as did a host of Ford Performance and aftermarket mods. I had the wish-list spreadsheet going and had lofty plans for the ‘Mustang of a lifetime.’ I had contracted the terminal ‘Mustang sickness’ that so many of us have, and I was able to keep the fever down until I showed up at the 2006 New York Auto Show.

“At that show, Steve Saleen and Parnelli Jones debuted the 2007 Parnelli Jones Saleen Heritage Edition Mustang. I acted as if I discovered gold, and I was simply in awe, (until I saw the price tag and the extremely limited ability to get one of only 500 of these cars that would be produced). I can remember grudgingly walking away saying to myself, ‘Someday!’  Well, that someday came in 2012 when I came across #25 of 500. I got a great deal on this PJ 302 with only 5,200 miles on the clock.

“So now I had it all -- REALLY! But Ford continued, first with the 2011 Boss 302, then the 2012 Shelby GT500 with 550 horses, then 2013 Shelby GT500 that goes 202 mph! How much can a guy take?

“Well, I maintained a good sense of control. The Parnelli Jones Mustang is a great car. The term I use for it when I describe it is ‘balance.’ It has a superb balance of power, handling, braking and style. It is really the best overall performing Mustang I have owned. But for my daily driver, I had a nice ‘appliance’ in a 2007 Acura TL.

“Now we come to current times. In early 2015, I had to replace my daily driver and I got a 2013 Infiniti G37X. I see a ton of them around, and while they are not a bad car, but they are boring! When I would see one I couldn’t tell if it was a 2006 or a 2014 model. I was commuting 60-plus miles per day in a car with very limited driving satisfaction, all the while coming home to look at my Parnelli Jones 302 under the car cover. And then Ford did it to me again!

“I got up-close exposure to the all-new S550 Mustang at the Ford Nationals in Carlisle. A beautiful Ruby Red 50^th Anniversary Edition caught my eye, and the fever started to rise. I would rent the new Mustangs on business trips and really enjoyed how refined the S550 Mustang is. I even thought about getting a new Mustang as my daily driver, but for some reason could convince myself that was a practical way to go. And then it happened.

“My coworker said to me, ‘You have to watch this movie called ‘A Faster Horse!’ So I did – and that’s all it took. Being a Chief Engineer myself for a major helicopter manufacturer, I totally related with what Mustang Chie Engineer Dave Pericak was going through. Plus understanding the fact that many times when considering a Mustang purchase it’s more about emotion rather than just practicality. The day after I watched that movie, I woke up and said to my wife, ‘I want Mustang to be a part of my everyday life again.’ She actually was very supportive. (I think it’s because she loves me, but I know for a fact that she REALLY loves the new S550 as well – so thank you for that!) So, in March of 2016, I traded my G37 for what is now my ‘daily driver’ – a 2015 Ruby Red GT with the 50^th Anniversary Package.

“Now I think I finally have it all. A beautiful and powerful new Mustang, which is the most refined Mustang yet with all the new updated features and technology, and my ’07 Parnelli Jones, which won my heart as the best performing Mustang I ever had.

“And now the beat goes on! A Shelby GT350? More horses for the 18 GT? Ford Performance, you guys are killing me!”

Editor’s Note: 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 (200-300 words or less) and a few photos (in .jpeg format, preferably 300 dpi) 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: AskTFR@Ford.com. Should you wish to send a video, you simply need to post it on www.YouTube.com (preferably 1-2 minutes long) and send in the link, along with a brief description, to that same AskTFR@Ford.com email address. We'll choose one submission each week.