It’s official! I’m a celebrity! At least when I arrived in Lakeland, Florida, for Carlisle Events’ Winter Autofest, I was asked to be a celebrity judge for the car show portion of the four-day event. Without hesitation, I said yes.
The criteria for my judging was to be based on my personal preferences, I should select any car I liked for whatever reason. At first glance, this seemed like an easy request but, ballot in hand entering the show field, I realized I faced a difficult decision in picking which car should receive the award.
I found elements I liked in nearly every car, though I quickly skimmed over the garage queens and trailer kings and blew past the race cars, surprised to discover that I was more attracted to the underdogs of the show.
Going up and down the aisles, it took me back to when I first bought my car. I frequented car shows with friends who all drove imports. I knew at every import show they always managed to have an award for domestic cars or cars they considered lady-driven, and I figured if I bought a domestic I’d be a shoe in for such awards. But that didn’t happen and the entire experience quickly deterred my dreams of owning a show car. I realized fairly quickly that being a self-funded and working a job college kid at the time meant I couldn’t afford to buy the best of the best for my car or even to do a bunch of different mods all at once, so I did what I could and was proud of what I had.
My show car dreams turned into race car dreams but I learned the same lessons relatively quickly. Though I was olde, I knew a trophy wasn’t my motivation. What I liked was driving my car, experiencing the world around me, and enjoying it for what it was. My car and I embraced the idea of being labeled as daily driven.
So back to my judging duties this weekend. I selected a car that didn’t appear to be a garage queen, that wasn’t a racer, and was driven and loved. To me, the deserving winner was a light blue 1965 Ford Mustang.
My process was simple — I wanted the car to win that normally wouldn’t or was probably overlooked due to the wear and tear of everyday use and the owner’s limited means for doing customization.
The Mustang also reminded me of my first car. It was the same color, same body style, and seeing this one made me all kinds of nostalgic. Having owned Mustangs, I really didn’t want to pick a Mustang. But I couldn’t help it. As soon as I laid eyes on the car I knew it had to win.
Hello Nicole,
Thank you for choosing our car. What a great surprise! You hit the nail on the head about our Mustang. It was my wife’s first car. She was a college student in 1970 and bought the car for $250. It has been our family car and it is like a family member.
I’ve got a short story of the car from the car’s perspective. If you like I can send to you.
Thanks again for the kind honor!
PS I wasn’t able to actually pick up the award I had to go to a memorial service for my friend’s dad. And Sunday I flew out to Denver for a leadership conference. (I work for an International Humanitarian Aid Organization.) But I feel more than blessed just to see your kind post!
Dennis Morman
Hi Dennis, thanks so much for writing – I’d love to check out the story. For the award, I think it had Carlisle Events’ contact info on the paper I left in your car? If not I’ll reach out to them 🙂
I am the friend who had a memorial service for my dad that day, but you picked an awesome car!