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All over the Grand Strand there were Mustangs from every era cruising the streets during the week as they moved between all the gatherings in the area. The nonstop pony car action over several days makes this event so special, but when the show cars invade the Myrtle Beach Mall for the Official Mustang Week Car Show on Friday sponsored by Ford and CJ Pony Parts, we’ve reached peak Mustang Week. This year was no different as the sold-out car show was surrounded by vendor displays and the parking lot swelled to capacity with spectator rides.
The cars are beautiful and special, but the community is what really makes this event special… — Thomas Myroniak, Power Automedia
“It was great to see the excitement of our participants as they came out to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Mustang. There was a lot of momentum building up and a lot of excitement and energy, and to see it all show up here at our event was pretty magical,” Thomas Myroniak, Director of Events at Power Automedia, said. “We tried some new things this year to get people early, to get people into the car show field earlier than we have in the past. The vendors were happy to see the amount of traffic, we saw thousands of Mustangs come to the show, and everybody seemed to be having a good time.”
As its name implies, Mustang Week is a multi-day celebration of Ford’s original pony car, but if there is a big day during this week, it is the Official Car Show on Friday. This year was no different as the Myrtle Beach Mall was packed with fans, vendors, and Mustangs. And, even though Mustang Week swag was on sale all week long, there was still a long, steady line of fans buying their gear to celebrate the Mustang’s big six-oh.
Many of the vendors had Mustang parts and accessories available, and attendees kept the Mustang Week merchandise tent busy throughout the day as fans picked up their 60th Anniversary swag to commemorate their trips to the beach. Summit Racing was gracious enough to cover the premium bags that were provided with each merchandise purchase.
Over the years Mustang Week established itself as the place for the Mustang community to gather. As a result, the event spawned relationships and friendships that continue to this day. This year another Mustang relationship was forged right on the property as Collin and Brianna Cruzan exchanged their wedding vows right in the middle of the Mustang Week car show.
“This event is really about the community of car owners. Of course, the cars are beautiful and special, but the community is what really makes this event special,” Myroniak added. “We’ve had people get engaged here. Some of our volunteers met here and got married. And, today, we had two Mustang owners get married at the show in front of a huge crowd.”
There was a special event within the event at the Official Car Show as Collin and Brianna Cruzan tied the not in front of a huge crowd of onlookers. They did so in front of his 2016 Mustang GT and her 2021 Shelby GT500 “Believe it or not, it was a joke at first,” Collin Cruzan said. “I've always come to Mustang Week, and I made a joke almost a year ago, and we pretty much said, ‘Oh, let’s get married at Mustang Week, and it ended up, as things came closer, we started talking more people, and then it actually happened.”
Meanwhile, the judges were busy from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. going over every car on the show field and selecting the most deserving rides for awards across a wide range of categories. Judges will bestow the awards to winners as the festivities conclude with the colossal Mustang Week Cruise-In presented by Prolube, but for now, we’ll hit some highlights from the epic Official Mustang Week Car Show.
This year’s VIP ticket holders could pick up coffee and doughnuts at the show and under that tent Chad Finchum, Ben Hobson, and Vaughn Gittin Jr. signed posters for the VIPs to take home thanks to Calimer’s Transmissions.
Another feature of the official car show and the cruise-in events is a raffle held by event sponsor CJ Pony Parts that benefits the Horry County Animal Shelter. Those purchasing raffle tickets not only help a great cause, but they have the chance to win some impressive products donated by show sponsors and industry supporters.
As you might expect, plenty of beautiful rides were on display at the Mustang Week Official Car Show, but one unusual ride was George Muse’s stunning retro mod. Looking every bit the classic pony car on the outside, it is a 2012 Mustang Boss 302 underneath. It functions just as it did from the factory, right down to the Track Key, but it was converted to appear as a classic Mustang by Duncan Brothers.
Blow-By Racing, which sponsored Tuesday’s All-Mustang Meet-Up, used its display as the background for the public debut of Hellion Turbo’s system for the 2024 Mustang GT and Dark Horse. When the cars can be tuned, this system is ready to deliver big boost to the factory’s dual-throttle body intake.
Paul Goldman wanted an ultimate street machine, so he built his 1989 Mustang LX to deliver the goods. Powered by a 346-cube stroker boosted by a Vortech supercharger, it delivers more than 500 horsepower to the rear wheels. It delivers that power to the pavement via an independent rear suspension from a 2003-2004 SVT Mustang Cobra.
Inspired by the exploits of a certain magazine project car from the past, John Pearce built his 2009 Shelby GT500 to deliver more than 750 horsepower courtesy of a built 5.4-liter engine boosted by a 3.8-liter Whipple supercharger. His ride also has four nitrous bottles onboard, but until he gets the right plate setup for the blower inlet, they are just there to put on a big purge show.
Brandon Emmett bought this 1996 SVT Mustang Cobra pretty much as you see it, but he sent it out for an extensive paint correction and treatment with paint protection film. His SN-95 is powered by a twin-turbo 4.6-liter Four-Valve engine with all the good stuff inside, so it’s easy to see why he only plans to refine the car without changing it too much.
