DEARBORN, MI – It was five years ago when the Early Ford V8 Club came to Detroit for its Grand National Meet with its “Dearborn’s the Scene in 2018” event. Not coincidentally, their mid-June convention in Ford’s backyard is held immediately before the famed Motor Muster show held at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum. So when we heard that the club would be hosting its 60^th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Celebration and Grand National Meet in Henry Ford’s hometown again for June 11th through the 17^th, 2023 – we were sure to put it on our calendar.

This year’s Meet started off with a motor coach bus trip down to Auburn, Indiana, for tours of the Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum and the Auburn Cord & Duesenberg Museum. Activities at the headquarters hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton in Dearborn, included registration, souvenir sales, a ‘Your Choice Raffle’, plus a swap meet, vehicle operational check and car clean-up time.

We got in touch with the club’s event organizers to offer up some suggestions on what kind of automotive attractions attendees may like to see and do while they’re in The Motor City. Those opportunities include visits to the Ford Piquette Plant in Detroit, the Henry Ford Museum and the Ford Rouge Factory Tour in Dearborn, plus a stop at the Benson Ford Research Center and a bus tour for the Ford Village Industries. There’s also Dearborn’s Automotive Hall of Fame, the Detroit Institute of Arts (home of the Diego Riv era murals of the Rouge Plant), the National Automotive History Collection at the Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, the Ford of Canada Archives at the University of Windsor, the Roush Automotive Collection in nearby Livonia, Michigan, a guided tour of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, as well as seeing the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum (which includes a Hudson Auto Museum) less than a half-hour drive away.

So registrants got “Tour on Your Own” information in their packet to interesting sites in the area. Special behind-the-scenes tours were arranged for the Benson Ford Research Center, Henry and Clara Ford’s Fair Lane home and the Yankee Air Museum and its Ford Tri-Motor. A special Early Ford V-8 Day was planned for Greenfield Village and the club’s own Concours judging took place on June 15th at the headquarters hotel where everyone (including Ford Performance) got the chance to view club members’ registered Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Ford-built commercial vehicles. The final day of the Grand National Meet started with a motor coach drive out to the Gilmore Car Museum near Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a tour of the entire facility before returning to the headquarters hotel for the awards banquet.

While countless enthusiasts the world over enjoy the power and performance that the V8 engine affords, this club’s sole mission is to celebrate America’s love affair with the V8 that has been going on ever since Henry Ford first tantalized us with torque via the introduction of the famed Flathead V8 back in 1932. The Early Ford V-8 Club of America’s slogan is “Preserving Flathead Fords Around the World.” Founded in San Leandro, California, in 1963, the club recognizes all Ford Motor Company vehicles made between 1932 and 1953, including Ford, Lincoln and Mercury. Today, with membership of over 9,000 across 125 Regional Groups worldwide, the Early Ford V-8 Club of America has expanded its restoration and preservation goal to also support commercial vehicles, tractors and other Ford-powered vehicles built around the world utilizing the 4-, 6-, 8-, and 12- cylinder engines produced by Ford Motor Company.

With so many fine early Ford V8 cars being the stars here, our own Ford Performance Enthusiast Communications Manager, John Clor, drove over to the show lot behind the hotel to stroll the car show and shoot photos of some of the outstanding vehicles that were on display there. He shares some of his favorites for you to enjoy in the gallery below:

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY JOHN M. CLOR