HICKORY CORNERS, Mich. – Ford Performance is a huge fan of the Gilmore Car Museum, located on the western side of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula in Hickory Corners, just outside of Kalamazoo. Situated about halfway between Detroit and Chicago, it’s one of the best-kept secrets in the Midwest for true enthusiasts of any stripe. This 90-plus acre establishment hosts a slew of automotive events every year, all offering a little something for everyone in an idyllic setting.

A couple of years back, the Gilmore opened up its car show season with the addition of the David J. Beeke Ford & Mustang Show in early May. The show honors the life of a passionate local car enthusiast, David J. Beeke, a Kalamazoo-area Fox Body Mustang restoration expert who was lost to cancer a few years ago. David’s family and friends started the annual event as a tribute to David, and brought the charity show to the Gilmore’s historic barn campus.-- along with some of David’s own Mustangs. While it’s true this early season Gilmore event features Ford Mustangs, with a special emphasis on 1980’s to 90’s Fox Body Mustangs and other Ford vehicles, it’s also true that owners of all classic car makes and models can also attend if they like.

After hearing what a great turnout the show had last year, Ford Performance decided it should head out to the Gilmore Mustang show this past May 6^th to set up our famed Club Connect Meet & Greet tent and hand out free Mustang posters all day. Cars were already lined up well before the official gate-opening time of 8 a.m., despite being greeted by a cloudy, breezy and quite chilly Saturday morning. We set up shop around a grassy area by the café while hundreds of Mustangs and classic Fords rolled in – making up perhaps only half of the 400-500 cars expected but certainly offering a good mix of Blue Oval Rides – along with a few from Brand X sprinkled in. Speaking of sprinkles, when some drizzle started to fall after lunchtime, organizers moved up the awards ceremony so that all could get back home in the hopes of missing a heavenly car wash.

In between all the car-talk in our Club Connect tent, West Michigan Mustang Club members Mike and Christine Campbell jumped in to help out with our poster-rolling and bagging duty. That gave us some time to walk the show field on Gilmore’s historic barn campus and shoot photos of many of the Fords there that caught our eye – most of them not actually Fox Body Mustangs. With each vehicle registration covering admission for two people as well as including admission to the museum buildings, this family friendly show had lots to offer. We donated some door prizes and handed out a few awards of our own at the end, promising ourselves to put this show on our list again for next year. One look at our photo gallery below should help explain why:

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY JOHN M. CLOR