CLINTON, Ill. – Unlike with some exotic brands that are mostly found in big cities along the so-called “smile states,” high-performance and classic Ford vehicles are popular all across the country, from the nation’s biggest metro areas to small-town rural America. How small? Well, even nestled among the corn fields of central Illinois you can find a little Ford dealer who is big on performance. Halfway between Bloomington-Normal and Decatur heading due south on Route 51 is Clinton, IL, a city of about 7,000 people that is home to Anderson Ford. Randy Anderson is a guy who likes to go fast, and thanks to his family’s drag racing background, his Ford dealership not only sells and services all kinds of performance Fords, but also has a hot-rod shop right on-premises complete with a dyno!

Performance-savvy Anderson Ford was among the top selling SVT dealerships in the Midwest back when Mustang Cobras and F-150 Lightnings ruled the road, thanks in part to Randy’s refusal to add big markups on Ford’s hottest products. Today, you’ll likely still find more horsepower on Anderson Ford’s lot than any store its size. You’ll also find a delightful car show that Anderson Ford hosts yearly in late summer that somehow keeps drawing many of the sweetest rides from miles around. Ford Performance has been there several times, and in-between our “Meet-and-Greet” activity we can’t help but to sneak away and check out some of the cool Fords in the show field. That’s exactly what we did during the 10th Annual Anderson Ford Charity Car Show back on Sept. 10, 2017, which also played host to a Fairlane Club of America Mini-Meet. Check out our photo gallery below for a sample of the great cars we saw there, owned, built and loved by the kind of honest, hard-working Ford fans you’d expect to find at “Illinois’ No. 1 Motorsport Dealership” in America’s heartland.

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY JOHN M. CLOR