Return To Mecca
By Lorne Willard
September 2003


It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, or so began the Dickens tale. And so it also began the tale of the roadtrip to Dearborn, MI for the Stampede to Dearborn, Mustang Club of America National Show.

It was a road trip full of sorrow. Our condolences go out the Ridens, Bynums and Reels on their sad news about family and friends. The Ridens almost didn’t make the trip, the Bynums started out and turned back before we got to Cameron, MO and the Reels made it all the way to Dearborn before heading back solo. Yet despite the worst of times, the group did their best to enjoy the trip.

And what would a road trip be without a few roadside and hotel parking lot repairs? If all road trips went smoothly, then just how entertaining would these stories be?

There were three separate groups (plus the Berrys solo) making the trip. The main group, which included the Ridens (Ashlee and Dan), Willards, Bynums, Bosics, Reels and Novak/Smith vehicles left KC early on Wednesday on a fairly uneventful jaunt (besides Chicago traffic) to Michigan City, IN. It was a pretty early night for the group despite $1 draws at the local brewpub, as the group needed an early start to Dearborn the next morning.

On Thursday, there was a little excitement when Star clipped a cone in a road construction area (you know, she’s pretty good on the straight track, but we’ve got to get her some practice on the curves), which knocked out her fog light and bounced the cone into the Reels Mach 1 and knocked off the front spoiler. After a quick roadside fix in traffic by John and Lorne, the group was off to meet up with the Berrys. At the first gas stop, Dan switched over to ride with Lorne to get ahead of the pack and drop Dan off at the airport to go back to KC to be with Pam. The rest of the pack, after merging onto the highway, unbelievably, ran into the Lages (Dick and Jeanne and Rick and Debbie) who traveled with the group the rest of the way to Dearborn.

There still wasn’t too much excitement except a broken motor mount on Redo Blue II
(hey, he’s got to live up to his name!). The group made it to the hotel and checked in, some going to Greenfield Village, others to work on the cars. We soon met up with Roger Dart who was in town for business and was staying the weekend. His rental car sure came in handy for those trips to NPD for parts (more on that later). The Stegners, with George’s parents, also arrived shortly after the rest of the group. The last to join us was Mike and Chris Foster who flew in for the show and plant tour.

On Friday, the group went on the plant tours, which included the stamping plant and the Rouge assembly plant. This in itself was well worth the trip. Being able to see the sheet metal stamped is pretty amazing and seeing a Mustang being assembled from start to finish was a chance of a lifetime. This is the last year the Rouge plant will build Mustangs as a new plant is being fitted in Flat Rock, MI. Ford is already rolling out the 40th Anniversary Special Edition Mustangs, with many in the group falling quickly in love with the new Merlot

special paint with a silver stripe. Some, even went as far as to call home begging for a new car…

After the tour, it was time to fix and clean the cars. Rick, Roger and Lorne found a shady spot and quickly replaced the broken motor mount on Redo Blue,

after Roger helped Ashlee put her 66 coupe through tech. After almost not stopping while going through the line, Ashlee’s car was diagnosed with a bad master cylinder. After another trip to NPD and a parts store, Rick quickly had the new part back in place, bled, and it was off to dinner and back to the Willard’s room for a little social hour. Roger again made use of the rental car to pick Dan and Pam up from the airport.

On Saturday, it was time for more cleaning and judging. The show wasn’t too organized, as the host club had no idea how to judge the 430 cars entered in the show. There wasn’t any water, runners or carpet squares provided to the judges. As usual, the VMC judged more than their share of cars. By some counts, VMC members judged around 75 to 100 cars with Dick and Jeanne Lage starting at 10:30 AM and judging until almost 6 PM, and Rick doing the same. Overall, the show came out OK, but there are some growing pains with the new MCA judging crew. There were a lot of really nice cars in attendance and the show site was really nice with a great background of the Ford World Headquarters and the 100th Anniversary logo on the building….

Saturday night, it was again time for fun. Dinner at TGI Fridays was somewhat of an adventure (bad service, cold food and the locals providing some extra excitement), and it was off for the real fun back in the Willard’s room. After a little fun with Supermonkey (keep reading), a fire drill provided us with an excuse to go out into the night.

While there, the group gathered around the 2005 Mustang prototype parked at the front of the hotel, where some hoodlums decided to get into the car and take pictures. I wonder if Ford would be interested in these, hmmm…

The Saturday night activities included some monkey slinging. Ashlee and Star had purchased “slingshot” monkeys (Supermonkey and Evel Knievel Monkey). These toys have rubber arms that make them fly through the air. After some experimentation, Lorne figured out how to shoot them across the atrium on the 5th floor. One monkey did a free fall through the atrium and landed directly in front of the hotel registration desk. A kind little girl picked him up and set him on a chair. By the end of the trip, the group had an addition, Elvis Monkey.

On Sunday, the awards ceremony was rescheduled a few times (from 2 PM to 3 PM to 2:30 PM) but finally got underway. While not everyone won an award, the
reward was the friendship and fun we had while there.

In all, the club took home 3 Gold awards (Berrys, Willards and Bosics), one 2nd (Ashlee Riden) and two 3rd place awards (George Stegner and Star Novak).

After, the group was ready to head home, but not all together as some were spending time with family, others making a leisurely return, and others making the trip back on Sunday and Monday.

On the road again, Star and John lead the way to John’s mom where we picked up Rachel who had spent the weekend with her grandmother. The Willards, Ridens and Berrys followed them with intentions to make it past Indianapolis, IN that night. After stopping at Auburn, IN, whom did we meet? The Lages and Stegners were spending the night in Auburn and they happened to be going into the restaurant next to the one we were in. After finding their wait too long, they came and joined us for one last evening. Our evening stop was at a Super 8 hotel outside Indy where we met up with a traveler from Missouri who had just bought a 66 coupe and was hauling it back home. We gave him a lot of good advice; we told him sell the car and run away… (Just kidding).