Pony Express. GT350 Gets Green Light for 2018

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1 June 2017 CRMC P.O. Box Charlotte, NC GT350 Gets Green Light for DEARBORN In honor of National Mustang Day, Ford announces that the most track-capable, street legal Mustang ever built is back for another lap. Ford Motor Company announces Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R Mustang will continue for 2018, available in showrooms this fall. The new models will be unchanged from the 2017 versions, with the exception of three new exterior color choices, Orange Fury, Kona Blue and Lead Foot Gray. Standard equipment carrying over to the 2018 Shelby GT350 and GT350R Mustang includes the incredible 5.2-liter V8 FPC engine which produces 526 horsepower and 429 lb.-ft. of torque, as well as engine oil, transmission and differential coolers to keep the car properly cooled while on the track. In addition, a nocompromise braking system with vented 15.5-inch two-piece front rotors and six-piston Brembo calipers along with the MagneRide damping system round out the standard equipment to produce the most bal- Continued on page 2

2 anced Mustang ever. An available Electronics Package for both models includes SYNC 3, voice-activated navigation and ninespeaker audio system. An available Convenience Package for GT350 models replaces Recaro manual seats with six-way power, heated and cooled sport seats with Miko suede inserts for both driver and passenger. Fair-Weather AutoFair by Michael Shorkey Ahh, April. March Madness has passed, with Carolina basketball winning it all: North for the men and South for the women. Even Tax Day has passed. It s that time of year when men and women s fancy turn to love, flowers, and AUTO SHOWS!!! From the end of March thru October, there seems to be no end to the parade of auto shows available to fans of every make and model. Ponies in the Smokies at Pigeon Forge and the MCA show in Pensacola being just 2 examples. CRMC participated in the Spring AutoFair, once again held at Charlotte Motor Speedway on April 7-9. We had 35 sign-up to participate and that Saturday dawned clear and cold (<40!) but quickly warmed up both in temperature and temperament. Seems the organizers had assigned WAY too many cars for the space. Mark Hunter very nearly was run over while guarding some of our assigned spaces. But you couldn t have asked for a prettier day. Carolina blue sky and temps that reached nearly 70. As the Mustang Maniacs were assigned with the spaces next to us, as was Carolina Corvettes, so it was wall to wall muscle cars behind the track hospital. With the Mustang Maniacs being at hand, we experimented with a judge swap, with CRMC judging their cars and them ours. The consensus was it was a mixed bag. Good to have different eyes looking at our cars, but the judging was uneven and differed as to our usual standards. The same was true for us judging them. Their trunks didn t count for points, but the vehicle s uniqueness did (turbocharger on a 2015 GT? Nitrous system on a 1992 Fox body?). Many thanks to Del Gillogly for organizing our opening salvo in the 2017 show season! And our winners are: Generation 1: Mark Hunter 1965 coupe Generation 2: Mike, Lori Williams 1978 coupe Generation 3: Brett Smith 1992 hatchback Generation 4: Tom Sheil 1994 convertible Generation 5: Rocky Hendrick 2013 convertible Generation 6: Mark Hunter 2015 coupe Best in Show: James Clegg 1967 coupe (Pictured at Right) Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 2 June 2017

3 Pony Express Spring Fling Wine Cruise by Michael Shorkey There are many annual events that CRMC members look forward to; the Auto Fairs, our own CRMC Show, but maybe the most anticipated for the couples (joint members) are our wine tours. Sunday, May 7th, Steve & Dawn Hartung once again (with much prodding and assistance from the Cotton family) led a parade of Mustangs to our Spring Tour destination. This time the destination was Stony Mountain Vineyards in Albemarle, literally at the top of the hill where the Cotton s live! The weather was chancy, but mostly a top-down day for all the convertibles. Even more encouraging were the many new participants. Rather than a fully catered lunch (as in past years), everyone brought something to share and the club supplied subs and soft drinks. The shared goodies were well received and very nearly polished off. Thanks everyone for sharing. Our hosts gave great tours of the operation and conducted multiple tastings for our 38 participants. This is a family-run operation and it showed in the many homey touches on the property. The only hiccup was the drenching downpour just after lunch, much to the dismay of the many convertible owners who didn t think it was necessary to put up their tops. Sorry about that! We also found our new Wine Cruise co-chairs: Dave & Carleen Olejarczyk. and Dave & Jane Burdecki. We look forward to their leadership for many years and thank Steve and Dawn for their many years of inspired leadership. We were a happy bunch by the end of the day All the pretty Mustangs lined up in a row Carolina Regional Mustang Club Full House! We had all we could eat at the pre-tour lunch Page 3 June 2017

4 Ford NEWS DEARBORN Ford Mustang has been the best-selling sports car in the United States over the last 50 years, and now, thanks to growth in international markets, the iconic pony car is the most popular sports car in the world, according to Ford analysis of IHS Markit new vehicle registration data in the sports car segment. Mustang expanded its sales lead in 2016 as the world s best-selling sports car with more than 150,000 Mustangs sold, according to IHS Markit new vehicle registration data. Overall global sales increased 6 percent over 2015, fueled by international market growth up 101 percent with almost 45,000 Mustang vehicles sold outside the United States. Mustang s ascension to best-selling sports car in the world in 2016 was driven largely by continued global rollout that saw big sales gains in Germany and China, as well as the car s introduction to smaller nations such as New Caledonia, Gibraltar and Bonaire. Since launching in China in 2015, Mustang has become the best-selling sports car in the world s biggest auto market. Sales in 2016 were up 74 percent over 2015, according to HIS Markit new vehicle registrations. The legacy of Mustang continues to grow, and in places it never reached before, said Mark Schaller, Ford Mustang marketing manager. We continue to make it available in new markets, and drivers in those markets continue to respond with resounding approval. For decades many global Mustang enthusiasts went to great lengths to get their hands on Ford s fast, fun and affordable sports car. Recognizing this passion, Ford decided that in 2015 it would take its iconic Mustang to markets across the world. Ford s data shows more than 395,000 sixth-generation Mustangs have been produced at Flat Rock Assembly Plant since 2015 and of that, 98,000 have been shipped to customers outside of the United States. From 2015 to 2016, Ford doubled the percentage of exports to 17.5 percent and the company expects export growth to continue, reaching 30 percent for the 2017 Mustang. Mustang with more than 8.4 million likes is the most-liked vehicle on Facebook. It is now available in 140 countries across all continents other than Antarctica. This year, availability of the 2018 Mustang will expand to six new countries, including Brazil, the Palau Islands and the Ivory Coast, with three additional markets announced later. Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 4 June 2017

5 CRMC Officers President Mark Hunter Vice President Jim Brooks Secretary Vicci Brown Treasurer Steve Hartung Regional Director Mike Williams Past President Mark Young BOD at Large Dave Barrett Tami Brown Mark Rottger Jeff Garman Michael Shorkey CRMC is a Regional Club of Mustang Club of America CRMC Charter Date August 24, 1978 The Power of the Pony by Brett Smith The year is not far from half over at this point (July 1 st actually this year). I hope everyone has already made all their automotive-related event plans and reservations for the remainder of the year. Fords at Carlisle is coming up this weekend and if you have never been, you should consider making it one of your Bucket List items. Just in case car shows bore you, don t let that be a reason not to attend. The vendor and swap meet area at Carlisle is larger than words can accurately describe. You don t have to look at a single show car and you won t be looking for something to do at any point over the weekend. Some of the truly rare and unobtanium parts can be found there. The stuff of legends as it were. The Gate City Triad annual All Ford show is June 17 th and that is always two things. A great time and a weather gamble. I have attended this show every year for probably a decade or more and always have a good time. It is one of those shows where traditionally not everyone wins a trophy. I see no point in cleaning my car when I know I am going to win a trophy either way. It just seems pointless and the award has no value to me. I would rather invest the time and effort and TRY to be the top in my class and lose. To be fair; one year, they did do a show where everyone won an award and it was only that year. I would guess that is because of the feedback they received. It seems like early or late in the day of this show there is always a chance of some dramatic weather but, knock-on-wood, no real harm has come as a result thus far. Sometimes we get wet. It s the middle of June in the South, what can you do? Stay home because it MIGHT rain? Nope, not me. In fact, this is one of those pet peeves for me. Everyone has them but that may be my BIGGEST pet peeve. Let s cancel something because of what may or may not happen the next day. Ohh the forecast calls for rain later so let s just stay home. I assume these are not the folks who complain about those same forecasters being wrong 95% of the time. One of the many lessons I learned from my Grandfather was related to this annoyance so perhaps I inherited this from him. He was a contractor and built houses for a living. He always said that when he first started out, he lost FAR more days of work WAITING on it to rain then he did for actual rain. Once that lesson was learned, he never made the mistake again. Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 5 June 2017