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20th Anniversary Fabulous Fords Forever: Knotts About Fords

SoCal's premier Ford event celebrates its 20th anniversary in fine style
By Tom Wilson
Photography by Tom Wilson
1995 Ford Mustang Cobra Rear Driver Side
Eddie Alvarado's red '95 Cobra... 
   
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1995 Ford Mustang Cobra Rear Driver Side
Eddie Alvarado's red '95 Cobra frames the right side of this view ofKnott's Berry Farms' signature Independence Hall. Eddie has "the usualbolt-ons": cat-back, pulleys, cold air, Hurst shifter, Fluidyneradiator, and larger brake rotors. He adds one item per year due tocost, and finds he enjoys the car more with the slow steady approach,rather than murdering the credit card and loading the car up right away.
2005 Ford Mustang GT Front Driver Side
The debut of Crazy Horse II... 
   
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2005 Ford Mustang GT Front Driver Side
The debut of Crazy Horse II by Eric Cheney's XMP and Boyd Coddington wasthe real news at Knott's. Eric says he'll build 1,000 of the cars, ineither Stage 1 or 2 guise. The $23,871 package (not including the base'05 Mustang price) of the Stage 1 car will include suspension mods along withthe bodywork, plus enough bolt-ons to reach 365 hp. The Stage 2 adds ablower, 650 hp, and $60,522 (!). This is the Stage 1 car, which lookedsharp with its custom bodywork and all-Recaro interior.
1988 Ford Mustang T Top Front Driver Side
This '88 T-top is a poster... 
   
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1988 Ford Mustang T Top Front Driver Side
This '88 T-top is a poster child for Fox fun/show cars everywhere. Ownedby a youthful Tony and Jamie Tyrrell of Covina, California, the silverstreak runs a GT-40 long-block crate engine and V-1 Vortech forgo-power, along with a never-been-used nitrous system for show. Trickedout front to rear to attract attention, the front-end sports a Cervini'sbumper cap and spoiler, plus APC headlights, and some polished trimaround the radiator. The interior was full-boat as well, and Tony saysthey just can't stop adding parts to it. Welcome to the club.
1988 Ford Mustang T Top Passenger Side
With the Knott's conclave... 
   
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1988 Ford Mustang T Top Passenger Side
With the Knott's conclave in its backyard, Saleen, the company, andSaleen owners always show en masse at Knott's. Here's part of the frontrow of Saleens--every identifiable car or hood in this photo is aSaleen, so you can see the turnout is strong.
Ford GT Front Driver Side
Saleen brings its hospitality... 
   
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Ford GT Front Driver Side
Saleen brings its hospitality transporter to Knott's, along with a hugesupply of the latest production Saleens. Normally we show Steve Saleensigning endless photographs under the awning, but this time, we thoughtyou'd like to see the Ford GT Saleen had on hand--Saleen assembles theGT for Ford in its Michigan facility. It was painted the newly-availablesilver, to which we say looks expensive no matter what the hue.
Ford Mustang LX Front Driver Side
Granddad cruised his flathead... 
   
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Ford Mustang LX Front Driver Side
Granddad cruised his flathead deuce with no hood on it, so why can't we?As he showed up fashionably late, we didn't get a chance to talk to thisguy about his Paxton Novi rig, but it definitely got the looks.
1985 Ford Mustang GT Engine Bay View
Yeah, they put carburetors... 
   
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1985 Ford Mustang GT Engine Bay View
Yeah, they put carburetors on Fox Mustangs. There was no information orowner around this exceptionally clean original '85 GT, but we could seethe Motorsport valve covers, caster/camber plates and MSD hardware. TheROH SP wheels and 245/50-16 Yokohama AVS tires looked sharp on this car,too.
Ford Mustang Fox Passenger Side View
Looking like it might see... 
   
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Ford Mustang Fox Passenger Side View
Looking like it might see some street action, this teal hatch is a greatexample of a cleaned-up project Fox running good power and still in thethick of it. Like many cars at Knott's this year, there was no ownerinformation on this car, but the Trick Flow intake, V-1 Vortech, Pro-Mmass air meter, pulleys, big Cobra R wheels, and widened front fenderssaid a lot.
1989 Ford Mustang Fox Engine Bay View
We've been stopping by to... 
   
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1989 Ford Mustang Fox Engine Bay View
We've been stopping by to admire Dave Dunmire's gorgeous black '89hatchback the last couple of years, and you can see why. With more than500 hp to the tires, the 306 D.S.S. Pro Bullet engine doesn't reallyneed the shine, but it doesn't hurt. Dave has a Snow Performance BoostCooler on the engine for an extra power hit (above the all-motor500-plus horsepower), and the chassis has a nice set of strip- orientedmods to put the power to the ground.
1986 Ford Mustang Coupe Front Passenger Side View
Gary Brandt says he paints... 
   
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1986 Ford Mustang Coupe Front Passenger Side View
Gary Brandt says he paints all his racing Mustangs using look-at-mecolors, making it impossible to forget his Brandt Racing Enterprisesbusiness. Obviously, the tactic includes this, his son's toy racer. An'86 coupe, Gary has run it in PSCA Limited Street using a 358-inchWindsor with a 350hp single-stage nitrous hit. There's plenty ofengine--it boasts GRP rods, a Steff oil pan, FRPP R-block, mergecollector headers, a Danny Bee beltdrive, and AFR 205 heads. Hooked to aC-4, 9-inch and 28x11.5 M&H slicks, the combo short times at 1.32seconds and turns 9.20s in good air at Phoenix.
1969 Ford Mustang Mach One Front Driver Side View
Now this is a Mach 1. A '69,... 
   
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1969 Ford Mustang Mach One Front Driver Side View
Now this is a Mach 1. A '69, owner Michael Lemu of Whittier, California,has stretched the original 351 to 418 inches and fitted a VortechT-Trim, '96 Mustang engine management and EFI, TKO five-speed, coiloversat all four corners, and Total Control arms among other things.Definitely a driver and not a show queen, the venerable Mach puts 550 hpto the tires according to Michael.
1988 Ford Mustang GT Front Driver Side View
Bob Frontino's '88 GT is the... 
   
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1988 Ford Mustang GT Front Driver Side View
Bob Frontino's '88 GT is the Mustang so many of us have been dreamingabout. Clean enough to eat off of, the still licensed and insured stripspecialist carries nothing but the best hardware and runs 9.90/140 mph.Bob works at Performance Associates, a speed shop in San Dimas,California, that has been building fast Fords since the TotalPerformance years. The 3,000-pound hatch uses coilovers, D&D controlarms, a Competition Engineering rear sway bar, plus 28x10.5-inch M&Hslicks to run straight. The power comes from a 302-inch DART block,super-ported Edelbrock Performer heads (not even rpm), an FRPP steelcrank, Carillo rods, and a hydraulic-roller cam. The T-Trim is cogdriven to 17 psi, and an air-shifted C4 and 9-inch do the rest.
Roush Ford Mustang GT Passenger Side View
We didn't catch the details... 
   
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Roush Ford Mustang GT Passenger Side View
We didn't catch the details on this clean, white Roush, but it does agood job representing the growing number of Roush and Steeda Mustangs atKnott's. Saleens get the lion's share of the specialty market inCalifornia, but the Roush and Steeda camps are growing at Knott's.
Ford Focus SVT Passenger Side View
Focus fans have been slowly... 
   
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Ford Focus SVT Passenger Side View
Focus fans have been slowly building their numbers at Knott's. JohnMcAbee obviously chose the gee-whiz factor of fancy door hinges with his www.superstreet.com Focus.
Ford Mustang Cobra Passenger Side View
Another car with no information... 
   
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Ford Mustang Cobra Passenger Side View
Another car with no information visible was this red Cobra convertible.We think they missed with the wheel and tire package, but get points fortrying with the Cobra R rear wing and custom NACA ducts and polishedscreen inserts, custom radio antenna, and other details. The late-modelCobras seem to attract this leading-edge styling treatment more than anyother Mustang.

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