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For more than three decades, the annual Fabulous Fords Forever event has taken place in conjunction with a longstanding partnership with Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California. For its 32nd year, the show was again a Ford fan’s paradise.
Hosted by the Ford Car Club Council with support from Ford Motor Company since its inception, Fabulous Fords Forever is supported by more than 241 club members and volunteers were present on the grounds this weekend. In fact, the 32nd annual event was one to remember, as there were three separate milestones celebrated.
The major milestones celebrated were the 55th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra and the 50th anniversary of the Mercury Cougar, as well as the birth of the Flathead Ford V8 – an engine which paved the way for many V8s that followed.
Boss 302s of all generations were present at this year's Fabulous Fords Forever show, two of which were painted in your author's favorite colors.
With those in mind, it’s no surprise that participants from this year’s show gathered from more than nine separate states, ranging from Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington, as well as Canada’s British Columbia
Likewise, with celebrity appearances from; Linda Vaughn “The First Lady of Racing;” Cleo Shelby, who represented Carroll Shelby’s legendary career; Camilo Padro, lead designer of the 2005/2006 GT; and finally, Sebastien Bourdais, Ford driver who shared the winning Ford GT in the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in June of 2016, there was plenty of action to go around.
Oh yeah, that's an original 1964 Thunderbolt — one of one hundred produced! You aren’t likely to see one of these in person to often!
In a world where Coyote swaps seem to be all the rage, there are still enthusiasts like the owner of this ’66-’67 Galaxie who chose to go against the grain and rock a 5.0 H.O. engine, and we dig it.
More than 1,641 Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles were registered for display at this year’s Fabulous Fords Forever event. Virtually every model imaginable was available our viewing pleasure at the largest one-day, all-Ford car show in the country. From Fords as early as several Model Ts, to more than six Model As and every Ford in-between the 2017 GT, this show was a Blue Oval fan’s eye candy store.
Of course Mustang Manny and his band of wide-bodied, Kenne Bell-supercharged Super Snakes were on deck as well.
More than 1,030 Mustangs were registered to be on display at the show. That’s not including the sponsored display vehicles on the premises. In addition to the pony cars, more than 85 Broncos, 55 F-Series trucks, 52 SVT Lightning/Raptor trucks, 35 Mercury Cougars, 34 Thunderbirds, 30 1932-1959 Fords, 29 Falcons, and 28 Crown Victorias were on the Knott’s Berry Farm property, ready for a flock of Ford fans to enjoy.
This was a big year for Ford Performance hot hatches, as well.
One of the rarest Cougars on the grounds was Bill and Lin's Cardinal Red 1968 Mercury Cougar GT-E. Old school Ford fans will know that the this Cougar was equipped from the factory with the legendary 427 FE side-oiler engine – the same engine Ford used to homologate its NASCAR racing program. It was also the last Ford product sold that came with a 427 FE engine, and it was the only car from Ford Motor Company that came with one equipped from the factory in 1968.
Bronco enthusiasts will be happy to hear there were plenty on the block at Knott’s. Nearly 100 showed up from all over the country for this one-day event.
With this year’s event being the largest one to-date, we were able to find more than our fair share of Mustangs spanning all the way from 1964 1/2 to the latest 2017 Mustang variants. Of course, the influx was of the GT variety in most cases. However, as always, Area 51 was full of rare and extremely desirable SVT Mustang Cobras – varying from the original 1993 models all the up to the Terminators.
One of your author's favorite Foxes at the event was this coupe. Dubbed the "FOXN8TOR", this Fox Mustang coupe was finished in a Mystichrome hue and featured a Terminator 4.6 swap, a full '03-'04 interior, and a '99-'01 Cobra's lower valance grafted to its front bumper.
We love Grabber Blue of any generation of Mustang – especially this 2017 Shelby GT350R.
It was refreshing to see a Shelby GT350R utilizing a roll cage and racing seats, just as it was intended to do.
From mild to wild, you could find just about any Ford this year, like this wide-bodied Shelby GT500 Super Snake.
Amongst a sea of classic Mustangs lied this 1966 Shelby GT350 equipped with an original Paxton supercharger kit. Surely, it was a sight to see just how far centrifugal superchargers have come.
One of the cleanest Fox Mustangs around was this widebody.
There was no shortage of custom, Coyote swapped Fox Mustangs at this year's event, either.
A sea of EcoBoost and Coyote S550s flooded the front left corner of the parking lot, just outside of Area 51.
Our friends from Strictly Stangz were out representing its Southern California club. Scott Klein brought his black S197 Mustang out (left), while Paul Dicecca had his 2012 Mustang GT "Sally" on display (middle), followed by Branden Schnell's Mach 1 swapped New Edge Mustang.
Randy Honkala and his wife came all the way from Cave Creek, Arizona, to participate in the show this year.
Since the EcoBoost engine was released, Randy wanted to use it in some type of project. "I saw this truck on the side of the road. I offered him $300, and he took it," Randy said. "I found a wrecked EcoBoost truck with only 6,400 miles on it for $3,250. I didn't do any measuring or checking, I just made it all fit. I purchased a 2013 frame brand new from Ford, and made the body of this 1966 F-250 base model." Randy says he loves the truck, as it keeps all of the modern amenities like the electric power steering. But the best part is, Randy's truck puts down more than 532 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels at only 3,000 rpm. That's the grunt of the EcoBoost engine, for ya!
