“Ford Mustang owners love to share their adventures,” said Steven Ling, North America car marketing manager for Ford. “The Pony Drives will give them the opportunity to impart their personal stories and create new ones with fellow enthusiasts. While traveling across half a continent, they’ll form new, lifelong friendships and reconnect with past ones.”
Ford Mustang 1965
MCA is coordinating both of the Pony Drives. The Las Vegas Pony Drive will stop in Amarillo, Tex.; Albuquerque; N.M.; and Flagstaff, Ariz. The Charlotte Pony Drive will be hosted in Little Rock, Ark.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Asheville, N.C. Those who cannot travel to Norman can still register for the MCA Pony Drive and join the group in one of the host cities along the way.
“Each Pony Drive will offer its own unique goodie box,” said Bramlett. “It will include one of a kind, commemorative items specific to the Pony Drives and not available to the general public. These items will be lifelong keepsakes for those who participate.”
Those planning to join one of the routes to Norman, can find the registration form and hotel information at ponydrive.us. For anyone joining the group in Norman, the Official MCA Pony Drive registration form is available at mustang50thbirthdaycelebration.com.
“Once we opened registration for the Pony Drive, entrants began pouring in,” said Bramlett. “We hope to have examples from each of the first 50 years of Mustang and share a moving historical display along the route.”
This year’s 50th birthday party has a host of celebrations at the two locations:
The tentative schedule is:
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Sunday, April 13 – Pony Drive Migration Begins from Norman, Okla.
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Wednesday, April 16 – The first official day of the Mustang 50th Birthday Celebration will feature vendors and exhibits as Pony Drives and members arrive
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Thursday, April 17 – MCA will conduct opening ceremonies followed by a host of activities and exhibits including track time, Ford’s Ride & Drives and hot laps, car displays, vendors and historical displays celebrating Mustang’s 50th
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Friday, April 18 – Activities continue, with a themed dinner
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Saturday, April 19 – The festivities will follow the same pattern as Friday;
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Saturday evening will feature the Saturday Night Banquet, with guest speakers
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Sunday, April 20 – Easter Sunrise Services will be held early morning at both tracks; parade laps around the speedways and closing ceremonies
Details are being formalized for the event and are continuously updated on a special website, mustang50thbirthdaycelebration.com.
Photos: Ford
(Jan 24, 2014)