Since I had such a good time at the Adventure Park show I decided to try my hand at some more shows. Since it was now show season and there were multiple shows on most weekends the problem became choosing which shows to attend.  My fist choice was a show at a fire station in Myersville, which is about 35 miles or so from where I live.  The other show that day was located in Westminster, which is also about 35 miles from where I live.  Just 35 miles in a different direction.

The weather was cloudy the day of the show, but it was starting to clear up so I set out for the Myersville fire station.  When I arrived I only saw 3 late model Mustangs that arrived right behind me.  One was a beautiful new Shelby and another was a California Special.  It turned out that the show had been postponed due to weather.  One of the Mustang drivers called up the Westminster show and found that show was not postponed.  So we decided to caravan to the Westminster show.  That drive was about another 30 or 40 miles.  The route the Shelby driver chose was strictly back roads, so I got a good opportunity to see how my car handled on an extended drive through the twisties following several high performance cars with modern suspensions and brakes.  I’m happy to say that the old mustang kept up at the pace that had been set.  Now don’t get me wrong, all three of those cars could have easily left me in the dust. But I feel like my old car made a respectable showing of itself.

When we arrived at the show it had been going on for some time.  I was car number 92, and they only had 50 dash plaques so I missed out on that.  However I met some really nice Mustang people and saw some nice cars.  Also, my entrance fee included lunch, so I got fed on top of it all.  I didn’t bring home any awards and didn’t win any raffles, but it was still a fun show.

The following week I chose to attend a show at Auto Ronnie’s in Monrovia, Maryland.  This show had several hundred cars, trucks, and motorcycles, and most all of the cars were high quality.  I was starting to recognize some of the cars from the other shows I attended.  I spent a lot of time looking at all of the cars and also talked to a few of the attendees.  I have to admit that by the end of the show I was pretty worn out from being in the hot sun all day.  But it was a good show and I enjoyed myself once again.

After seeing the quality of the cars at these shows I now understand that if I want to make a respectable showing for myself my car needs to have the engine compartment thoroughly cleaned, painted, and detailed.  In order to do this properly the engine would need to come out of the car.  That is a job I had spoken to Val about doing after my interior and exterior were completed.  I contacted Val via email to see if he was still interested in working on my car some more.  He said he would be willing to do the work, but that he is all booked up until next summer.  I asked him to put me on his schedule, and that I would also like to have him look at adding power steering to the car.  I have driven the car without power steering for as long as I have owned the car, and I’m more than ready to add that option.

Now I just need to be patient and wait for next summer to roll around on the calendar.  In the mean time I plan to continue attending the local car shows and just enjoying the car.