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Balls ricocheted across pool tables, pinballs bounced off bumpers, and high scores tallied on classic video games as Mustang Week brought the fun inside and out for ’Stangs & Games presented by BOOSTane at Player 1UP in Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina on Wednesday.
The fun wasn’t limited to the arcade bar’s confines, however, as the parking lot was filled with Mustangs from all eras, which fans could enjoy between stints of gaming competitions and camaraderie. There was also a shuttle running fans back and forth to Lue Creative’s legendary Retro Meet at Suck Bang Blow, so the old-school vibes were strong as Mustang Week reached its midpoint.
Naturally, the Mustang Week team was on hand selling the highly sought-after merchandise to enthusiasts who wanted mementos from this year’s Mustang 60th Anniversary celebration. Participants were also able to pick up car show credentials to ensure a smooth entry into the Official Mustang Week Car Show on Friday.
Next the action heads to K1 Speed in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the Mustang Week K1 Challenge presented by DeatschWerks, where participants can compete for trophies and prizes. However, before we hit the indoor track, let’s check out some highlights from ’Stangs & Games.
With the fuel-additive experts at BOOSTane adding some octane to ’Stangs & Games at Player 1UP, it was only natural that the company hosted a contest for the quickest time on the Dirty Driving game at the arcade bar. In the end, Hykeem Flemmings (left) drove away with a six-month supply of BOOSTane and a free tune from Cobb Tuning. Flemmings received his first case from the company’s founder Ian M Lehn to close out the event.(Photos by Steve Turner)
Talk about a show-stopper. When Phillip Tarlton idled through the Player 1Up parking lot to find a spot his pro street 1965 Mustang drew a huge crowd of admirers. He has owned the Daytona Sunrise Orange car for 31 years and he used to drag race it back in the ’90s. These days it is motivated by a 434-cube Windsor generating 844 horsepower. He has a 400-horse progressive nitrous system on tap just in case and says the car will see the drag strip again.
Your scribe has a soft spot for Fox Mustangs and Travis Ford’s Regatta Blue 1985 Mustang coupe checks all the boxes. The clean Four-Eye rides on glistening CCW wheels and has that just-right stance. Under the hood, the star of the show in the sanitary engine compartment is a Gen 2 Coyote swap backed by a TREMEC T-56 six-speed manual transmission.
Modern Mustangs are all over the Myrtle Beach area, but the classics are making a strong showing this week. Jason Damato put his engineering background to good use in building this beauty. Inspired by the late Ken Block’s Hoonicorn, he built his ’66 coupe into a corner-carving restomod. Damato is still breaking in the Vortech-boosted small-block underhood, so it is detuned to 760 horsepower, but he eventually hopes to tune up the Holley EFI and push it beyond four digits.
Charles Venezia says that if you don’t go over the top with a modern Mustang, no one notices it at a car show. Inspired by his favorite car, the 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Twister Special, Venezia’s 2016 Mustang GT is decked out with lots of custom touches, including factory ’70 Mach 1 emblems, plenty of yellow accents, and scissor doors. Venezia says he started modding it, and one thing led to another and the car turned out like this. He still isn’t finished with the car, but it got noticed at ’Stangs & Games presented by BOOSTane.
You rarely see Mustang IIs in the wild and you seldom see them so nice. This example was Michael Drayer’s first car and he decided to build it up to hurt some feelings in his local No-Clock Street drag racing class while putting some respect on the Mustang II’s name. His deuce was originally a four-banger, but these days it is powered by a twin-turbo, 363-cube small-block cranking out 1,290 horsepower. He hopes to dip into the high-7-second range with his street/strip machine.
Stay Safe
One other feature of ‘Stangs ‘n Games is a free shuttle service provided by Save 22. The shuttle has multiple stops along on US-17 – running from Beaver Bar to Player 1Up – to reduce pedestrian traffic (there is no sidewalk) and keep everyone safe. The sponsor if fitting considering its mission is to help those who keep us safe. Save 22 – a 501c(3) – dedicated to preventing suicide among veterans, active-duty personnel, and first responders.
