FLORIDA PONY TRAIL
2002 Pony Trails/Silver Springs Ford & Mustang Roundup
For those of you not familiar with what “Pony Trails” is, it is a Mustang drive sponsored by “Mustang Monthly” magazine. These drives occur in different locations in the US throughout the year and the first one for 2002 was in Ocala, Florida on January, 11th. For this drive, 104 cars met at the National Parts Depot (NPD) parking lot in Ocala and traveled about 60 miles to Cedar Key Island off the Gulfcoast of Florida and returned via the same route. Mustang Monthly editor Jeff Ford’s Medium Bright Yellow 1972 “Lazarus” Mach 1 led the stampede. I was able to travel from Michigan along with my good buddy (and Boss 351 owner) Art Richardson to participate in this Pony Trails with my friend in Florida, Robert Myhrer. The pictures below will give some idea of what the Pony Trails was like!
Regards,
Note: Click thumbnails below to enlarge pictures.
Traveling from Lakeland to Ocala Thursday night with Robert's two 429 Mustangs.
Due to an ignition system problem, Robert's friend editor Ford had to come to the rescue to help us make the final leg of the journey to Ocala. He was pleased to make the hour drive south at about 11:00 at night!
Friday morning at the NPD parking lot getting organized for the Pony Trail. Lazarus is set to lead the way.
Art, Jeff, and Robert securing the yellow 429 car.
Jeff Ford makes a last minute check with our Police escort (arranged by Rick Schmidt of NPD) so we could keep all the cars together until we reached the expressway.
The drive was well planned and went through woods, rolling hills and pastureland.
It was neat to see residents from homes along the route coming out into their yards to watch the parade of Mustangs roar by.
My buddy Art and I were able to rent a brand new Mustang GT convertible to use during the drive. The hood scoop is visible in this photo. Art drove the GT within posted speed limits for the entire trip ; -)
A portion of the drive took place on a two lane highway. A *few* of the cars opened things up for a minute. It was a great sound to hear!
We arrived at Cedar Key around 11:30 AM. There was a parking lot along the harbor just the right size to accommodate all the cars.
Jeff Ford recommended some good places to have lunch and told us where to meet at 1:00 PM for the drive back.
Other cars besides Mustangs participated - note the Sunbeam Tigers and Cobra.
It was a beautiful day for the drive with blue sky and temperature around 70 degrees.
A view of all the cars from across the harbor.
The cars gathered outside of town for the trip back to Ocala.
The drive back through the Florida countryside.
View over the rear spoiler.
After returning to the NPD facility at the end of the drive, Rick Schimdt of NPD invited the Pony Trailers to tour NPD's 200+ car collection. It included a Boss 429, a '73 Mach 1 and many other rare and interesting cars.
'73 Mach 1 from NPD collection.
I'm sure we have all seen these dolls at car shows that lean on the front bumper? I was surprised when this one turned around and was a real little girl!
Robert's two 429 Mustangs were also on display. Robert carefully chose a prime location to gain maximum exposure for the cars. For the two days of the show, many people stopped by to take a look, ask questions about his cars, and drool. It is fine displays like this that will help increase public knowledge and generate interest in our rare but still widely unknown 429 cars. Good job, Robert!
Robert's cars were joined by a white '72 351 Mach 1 on the show field. It was quite a sight to see these three cars together.
As shown in this row, three 351 powered Mustangs and a Cougar convertible also attended...
Check out the custom plate on Jeff Ford's Lazarus Mustang!
The show finished up Sunday and then there was the return trip to cold and frozen Michigan. It was a great trip and plans were made to participate in the upcoming Grand Rapids, Michigan Pony Trails in June 2002. (For those interested in the Michigan Pony Trails, click this link to the West Michigan Mustang Club)
The Pony Trails was great fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance to go on one! A big THANKS! to Mustang Monthly and NPD for making this great event possible. John Blair Webmaster
