Ford Invites Tampa SVTOA to Special Mustang Media Event Rally

[TBSVTOA]

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2005mustang/images/pho/mst05_exmain_6.jpg
DEARBORN, Mich., July 5, 2004 – With the fervor and excitement of a rock 'n' roll tour stop, Ford Motor Company will introduce the all-new 2005 Mustang to Tampa/St.Petersburg on July 16 and 17 at an event billed as "Mustang Mania" expected to draw hundreds of fans of the legendary pony car of all ages and vintages.

The parking lot at Legends Field will be transformed into a gigantic festival site as Tampa/St. Petersburg Mustang enthusiasts celebrate their favorite car's 40th anniversary and welcome the 2005 model that goes on sale this fall. There will be hot dogs and soft drinks, tents, a disc jockey spinning classic Mustang memories (from "Hey Little Cobra" to "Mustang Sally") and trivia contests.

But the real stars will be the cars -- a 2005 Mustang GT and hundreds of classic Pony cars owned and displayed at Legends Field by their proud Tampa/St. Petersburg residents during the two days. The event, sponsored by the Tampa/St. Petersburg Ford dealers, is free and open to the public.

“The Beatles had their fan clubs, Britney Spears has hers and we have ours, except our star just happens to be made of sheet metal,” said Marty Collins, Ford Division general marketing manager, who will serve as the company spokesperson at the event. “The enthusiasts here in Tampa and St. Pete, along with the 40,000 registered Mustang club owners around the world, make us proud, and they're a big reason why Mustang has outlived the other muscle cars."

As a testament to its pop-culture appeal, Mustang has been featured in more than 500 films, the subject of countless rock and roll songs, and it’s even graced a U.S. postage stamp. "NBA fans are always saying, 'I love this game'…well, we just love this car," said Dave Turnbull of Fort Lauderdale who recently led a troupe of 50 Mustangers on a cross-country tour at their own expense to celebrate the car's 40th birthday. Turnbull and some of the drivers from "The Great American Pony Drive II" will be special guests at the Legends Field event.

The 2005 Mustang retains the classic pony car styling cues of a long hood and short rear deck in a design that is modern, muscular and immediately recognizable as a Mustang. The Mustang GT version will have a 300-horsepower all-aluminum V-8 engine, while the V-6 edition will have 210 horsepower and performance that rivals Mustang GTs from the 1980s and 90s.

The new Mustang is part of Ford's largest roll out of all-new products in its history. It will be joined in Tampa-St. Petersburg by the company's new flagship sedan, the 2005 Ford Five Hundred, and the 2005 Ford Freestyle, which bridges the gap between sedans and SUVs.

"Between last fall's launch of the 2004 F-150 pickup and this fall's launch of the all-new Mustang, more than 60 percent of the Ford showroom will be new designs, and that includes so many new cars that we're calling 2004 the 'year of the car,'" said Ford's Collins. "We want to show consumers in Tampa and St. Petersburg how we're trying to change the game in every segment of the car market by offering safety features, roominess, versatility, powertrain technology and great design in combinations you can't find from any other company."

The Mustang Mania festival will run from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 16, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 17.

Saturday will be the primary Rally day, local enthusiasts should arrive to the event at 8:00am
Come out by yourself or with you club. There will be plenty of room


Clubs Are Are Invited to attend this event. If your club is interested please contact us:
Phone: 727-692-6924
Email : TBSVTOA@Tampabay.rr.com

[03 Mach1]

Helping shape the history of sports cars
By TOM ZUCCO
Published July 15, 2004


He wanted to make a good impression that first day on the job, so he wore a suit and tie. Jerry Fleszar was 25 and fresh out of the Paul Shiloff School of Dynamic Design in Detroit when Ford Motor Co. hired him to work on a concept car in its secret corporate projects studio in nearby Dearborn.

Six or seven other men had already started a full-scale clay model of the car, and although security was tight, the atmosphere was relaxed. The boys in the studio had Little Eva and the Shirelles on the radio, and they chatted about their families, the Detroit Lions and the new host of the Tonight Show, someone named Johnny Carson.

It was 1962.

The brown clay ruined Fleszar's suit that day, the stench from the sulfur penetrated his skin, and he had no idea if the model car with the horse on the front grill would be built or scrapped.

"I'm not even sure it had a name when I first started working on it," Fleszar, 68, said earlier this week from his home in Largo.

The mound of clay he and the others were shaping based on a drawing tacked to the wall would end up appearing in nearly 500 movies, on a postage stamp and on Billboard's Top 10.

It would also become the best-selling sports car ever made.

The Mustang.

After several alterations, the Mustang made its debut at the New York World's Fair on April 17, 1964. Its sticker price: $2,368.

The reaction, like the car, was swift.

A Chicago Ford dealer closed early and called police when prospective buyers stormed his dealership. In Garland, Texas, 15 customers bid on the same Mustang, and the winner slept in the car overnight to guarantee it wouldn't get sold before his check cleared the bank.

More than 22,000 orders were taken that first day, and within a year, sales reached 417,000.

Today, as the Mustang turns 40, more than 8-million of the cars have been sold.

"What Ford saw was this huge bulge in the number of people about to come of age - the baby boomers," said Ford spokesman Bill Gray. "All these kids were getting their driver's licenses, and we wanted to give them something fast, fun and affordable."

It also helped, Gray said, that the Mustang appeared just as American pop culture was bracing for a wild ride. The car debuted two months after the Beatles made their first appearance in America, and on the cusp of the women's rights movement.

"A large number of young women in the mid 1960s who were office workers and secretaries bought the car," Gray said. "We specifically targeted women's magazines and had a TV commercial aimed at women.

"Guys wanted the car because it was fast and a chick magnet. But women wanted it because they looked good in it."

The car's design has changed over the years; the 2005 model will be the fifth generation.

But some things remain the same. The galloping horse on the grill, the scoops on the side and the six horizontal tail lights.

"The original horse was much larger and carved in wood," said Fleszar, who retired from Ford in 1996 and shares his condo with his wife and his 1992 cherry red Mustang GT convertible.

He started at Ford at $453 a month, put in 14-hour days, and never seemed to completely get rid of the sulfur smell.

"Best job I ever had," he said.

The original model was built almost entirely of clay, he said. Only the tires and headlights were real. After it was finished, the car was painted and aluminum foil applied to the bumpers for realism. When executives were satisfied, a fiberglass cast was made and the car was taken to auto shows to gauge public reaction. The entire process took three to four months.

Like most concept cars, the design was a secret. Occasionally, when a model was taken outside the building for a look, helicopters would show up overhead.

Fleszar grinned.

"Someone from GM or Chrysler," he said. "It was a cat and mouse game we played."

Although then-Ford president Lee Iacocca is generally credited with creating the Mustang, it was designers such as Gale Halderman and Joe Oros who came up with the original plans. The car was built on the Ford Falcon platform and designed to be an inexpensive alternative to Chevrolet's Corvette and the British MG.

Ford employed more than 350 modelers in 1964, and although clay models are still used, there are fewer than 100 modelers employed today.

"It was so exciting back then," Fleszar said. "Especially for a kid who had no experience."

But like the Mustang, it was a matter of timing for Fleszar.

He was raised in Melvindale, a suburb of Detroit, and his father was a foreman at the Ford plant. After high school, he served in Korea and did stints at the post office and as a press operator.

One day, a co-worker saw his drawings and suggested the modeling job.

"I was very nervous the first day," he said, "but the other guys took me under their wing and guided me."

He would rise at 5:30 a.m., work until 5 p.m., come home and eat dinner, and then go back to work until 8 p.m.

"The clay was hot, and sometimes we had to wear gloves to protect our hands," he said. "And there was sulfur in the clay back then, so my clothes stunk because we kneeled down most of the time. But it was fun."

In some ways, it still is.

When he attended a Mustang rally in Nashville recently and people found out what he did 40 years ago, they asked him to pose for pictures and sign autographs.

"We were just six or seven guys working in a room, trying to sculpt a car that everyone liked," Fleszar said.

"I guess we did."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Mustang Mania. Hundreds of classic Mustangs will be on display from Mustang clubs throughout the Tampa Bay area as Ford celebrates the 40th anniversary of the car and introduces its 2005 Mustang.

WHEN: Noon to 7 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Parking lot of Legends Field, N Dale Mabry Highway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tampa (across from Raymond James Stadium). Admission is free.

© Copyright 2002-2004, St. Petersburg Times

[03 Mach1]

I had a blast yesturday even though the weather was bad.

[TBSVTOA]

Me too.


Thanks to all who came out. But most of all Thanks to Jon , Jan , and Fredom Ford (Jazz ) for helping out. Good job.

We were able to sign up a bunch of new national and local members . Hope to see them at some of our events.