If you’ve had any experience in the Mustang club world and have been following the collector car hobby of late, then you’ve likely already heard that traditional, dues-paying Mustang clubs have been suffering substantial losses in membership over the past decade. Some say it’s just natural attrition based on an aging club member population, while others think it’s due to an irreversible downward spiral in the number of young people who are interested in cars. As the hobby is seeing a shift toward social-media based clubs and Cars & Coffee events, is this just a temporary trend or is it indicating a tragic end to the Mustang club universe? We ask two experienced former presidents of large, established Midwest clubs – Mark Bedel of the Greater Pittsburgh Mustang Club and our own co-host, Mike Rey of the Mustang Owner’s Club of SouthEastern Michigan – for some real-world insight on the future facing Mustang clus and young people in

the hobby. Listen right to the end to hear their surprising predictions!

You may have had your last glimpse of Ford’s famed “Glass House” that has served as the company’s corporate headquarters for decades with our coverage of the Mustang Memories Show. Now comes the all-new Ford WHQ digs a mile away on Ford’s Dearborn campus. Mike & John check out ‘The Ford Community Car Show” at the WHQ Grand Opening.

Ford insiders know Mike Berardi from his years serving as the Director of Ford’s Field Service Engineering operations. But enthusiasts from across the Midwest may know him more from his personal collection of 70-plus Mustangs (along with some interesting Fords). Thanks to the work of former FordPerformance.com photographer Joe Deladvitch, John and Mike take you on a picture tour of Berardi’s cars, with some cool backstories adding to the eclectic mix. Find out about Mike & Sue Berardi’s involvement with Good Humor Ice Cream, distributed at select events via their fleet of restored classic Ford Good Humor trucks – it’ll make you instantly understand why Berardi is a well-respected and beloved enthusiast collector who just recently took the helm of MOCSEM, replacing Mike Rey as president of Detroit’s mega-Mustang club.

In this latest Mustang Mailbag episode, John and Mike respond to an email filled with a whole host of suggestions – including the perceived need for the creation of a web-based “Mustang Resource Center.” Then they combined several inquiries into one response to answer what happened to the annual Midwest Club Summit that John and Mike had hosted for the past decade. Should it be resurrected as a live seminar at the Carlisle Ford Nationals? Finally, a podcast viewer from the Thunderbird club world offers his ideas on how to best interact with young enthusiasts. Lots of great info and insight here, and make sure to listen to the very end to get word on Thunderbird Appreciation Day 2026!

It keeps on happening, so we decided to put a stop to it – the myth that the Ford Mustang was named after the WWII fighter plane just won’t go away. After a podcast subscriber spotted a big-name website pushing the falsehood, we knew we had to get Smart! No, not get wiser, but to get noted Mustang author, historian and expert Jim Smart to come on the podcast and reveal what Lee Iacocca and others had told him about the Mustang being named after a horse, John and Mike share their own insider info – from the likes of Gale Halderman and Hal Sperlich – to finally shoot down this Mustang myth once and for all.

If you think the traditional Mustang club world is only for old-timers and retirees -- it’s time you think again. Turns out the Greater Pittsburgh Mustang Club (GPMC) just got a new president – Jacob Werner -- and he’s just 33 years old! We sit down with Jacob to find out how he and his Mustang landed in the leadership position with the GPMC (along with other Thirtysomethings on the Board), what he plans to take the club into the future, and then discover that our paths had actually crossed years ago!

We met up with Eric Richards when John was booked as the Guest Speaker for the Show-Me Mustang Club’s 40th Anniversary banquet just outside of St. Louis in January. John remembered Eric as being a huge Dave Pericak fan after he and fellow club members had previously attended Mike Rey’s Mustang Homecoming event in Dearborn, but we’ve since found out that Eric has an even deeper dedication to the Mustang hobby.

Whenever someone is known as “The Crazy Mustang Man,” you know there’s a story to tell. So Mike and John tracked down Lyle Sturgis, the famed SVT / Roush / RTR Performance Manager at Tindol Ford in Gastonia, NC for an explanation on just how he earned that name. Since Mike Rey had worked at Roush a while back, you can be sure that he and Lyle will have some insider “remember when?” stuff to share with all of us!