The 36th running of one of the biggest Ford gatherings bring out the Blue Oval in everyone.
Is there a more iconic Ford than the ’32 Roadster? Probably not. This one had flames and a nice stance. The tan interior was tightly stitched together and looked smooth.
The Thunderbird was actually created as a response to Chevrolet’s Corvette. Both Corvette and T-Bird went off in their own directions after that, but there is no better car that represents the mid-century modern ethos than a turquoise T-Bird.
The quintessential land yacht, the mighty fifth-generation Continental was built from 1970 to ’79 and came in both two- and four-door configurations. One version was 19-and-a-half-feet long and weighed well over 5000 pounds. They don’t build ’em like they used to.
This ’72 Mark IV Coupe featured sleek and stylish opera windows.
We found this 1970 Thunderbird sitting among a group of Lincolns. And it was for sale! Zoom into the right rear passenger-side window for the number.
The road-going RS200 was built from 1984-’86 for homologation purposes so Ford could take this car racing in the FIA Group B Rally class. I drove one once. Or rather, tried to drive it. Unless you’re going 120 mph sideays in the dirt, it’s a real handful.
The second-generation Ford GT was built from 2017-’22 and is a blast to drive, on the road or on the track, believe me. The 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 made up to 700 hp.
The first generation of the modern Ford GT was built from 2005-’06, and was larger in every dimension than the cars that won Le Mans in 1966, especially in headroom. You won’t need a Gurney Bubble to fit in this one. They are easy and fun to drive, too, albeit with 550 screaming horsepower.
The 1969-70 Mercury Cougar was powered by the Boss 302 engine.
The Shelby Cobra is a true icon of power and performance and this is a stellar example of the breed. Note the Blue paint with white racing stripes—fantastic!
Stock original Bronco and ’58 Fairlane.
This is the original Big Oly Bronco driven by Parnelli Jones to victory in the Baja 1000—twice. His co-driver both times was Southern California racing innovator Bill Stroppe. Parnelli didn’t make it to the show this year, though he has attended in years past, but Bill Stroppe’s son Willie did, one of the nicest guys in racing.
CSX2023 is a 1962 289-powered beast, shown parked here with its siblings.
Fabulous Fords Forever was held on the grounds of the Irwindale Speedway and this is the track’s official pace car. Number 16 was Parnelli Jones’ number when he raced a Mustang to victory in the 1970 Trans-Am series.
Motion Control Suspension of Alphretta, Georgia, built this car and would have won the biggest-and-best wing award, if there was such a thing.
Hillbank Motor Corp. is like a candy store for horsepower enthusiasts. Call the number on the awning and order your GT40 now!
Ford power!
Anderson Composites is just down the freeway in the City of Industry and builds “carbon fiber for muscle.” Here’s their Bronco. Note the door.
Anderson brought two Mustangs to FFF, showcasing carbon fiber products for the cars.
You can get trunks, decklids, hoods, and doors made of carbon fiber to lighten up your car for better performance. It ain’t cheap, though; the hoods alone are about two grand.
Allison has gotten off to a good start here.
This is the street version on the Saleen S1. You may recall it debuted at the 2017 LA Auto Show. The company is working on getting the S1 production-car certification for the street, and Saleen says it plans to have that task done by the end of the year.
The street car will be powered by a proprietary 2.2-liter turbo making 450 hp, Saleen says. Price is listed at $125,000.
This is the S1 GT4. Steve Saleen is co-driving it in the SRO GT4 class this season… at age 73! The team says its first goal after running the Saleen 1 Cup Cars in the Saleen Cup series in 2019/early 2020, was to get the car homologated for GT4 this season. When it ran at Sears Point in Sonoma during Easter weekend, it finally achieved that goal.
This company makes a lot of fashion gear in addition to this nice promotional Mustang.
Fordauthority.com says the Voodoo is a 5.2-liter, naturally aspirated V8 engine from Ford Motor used to power sports cars like the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350/350R. Featuring a dual overhead cam (DOHC) design, in a V configuration, the Ford Voodoo architecture has been part of the Ford Modular family since 2015.
A clean early Mustang convertible.
There were many Early Broncos on hand. This one has just the right amount of patina.
FSWERKS of Anaheim, California, says it is a manufacturer of high-performance street and race products specializing in the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta. The company has an in-house DynoJet dynamometer, and says it “track tests all products to insure the highest quality and best performance with every product before we sell them to our customers.”
Quite the setup on this one.
Keyword: Our 50 Favorite Fords from Fabulous Fords Forever