There are a few things every Mustang owner loves: lots of horsepower, sunshine (on their left arm), and meeting other enthusiasts. For one week in July, over the past 14 years, they take over the golf town of Myrtle Beach, SC to throw one of the East Coast’s largest Mustang gatherings – Mustang Week.

As a self professed Honda owner, I decided to prepare myself for the show by looking at videos online of previous year’s events. This didn’t give me a positive outlook heading into the weekend, since searching “Mustang Week” in YouTube will auto populate to “Mustang Week crashes”. However, arriving Thursday morning at the Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords Dyno Challenge, I was pleasantly surprised.

Cars like this Fox-body with Weld Draglite wheels were throwing down some serious high horsepower numbers, some in excess of 800hp, despite the outrageous humidity and 107º heat index.

The morning of dyno sessions brought out tons of spectators including this rare OEM Mystic Cobra.

As you walk around the car, the angle of the sunlight completely changes the color from a greenish blue, into a pinkish purple.

Though the first iteration is not to be confused with this, the Mysti-chrome Cobra, which Ford followed in the next body style.

This is a much deeper bluish purple to start, and changes to a brighter purple in the sunlight.

Vanity plates from the surrounding states could be seen in the parking lots.

The morning started with the dyno sessions, and grew into three separate meets on the grounds by early afternoon. This classic notchback parked at the entrance to one of the lots caught my eye.

It was in such pristine condition, but also housed a meaty tire setup and drag racing cage.

So many different forced induction options are available for the various years of Mustang, including this large centrifugal setup on this California Special GT.

Designed by professional Formula Drift driver, Vaughn Gittin Jr., the production RTR (Ready To Rock) Mustang was in attendance wearing its full aero package and wheel option.

It also runs an interior package with Recaro bucket seats and special RTR branded Takata racing harnesses.

Walking through the open parking lot was a lot of fun, much like a treasure hunt, seeking the diamonds in the rough. This Roush Stage 3 Mustang makes just shy of 600hp but it was their driving distance that made it cool.

Google Maps estimates Quebec, Canada to Myrtle Beach, SC at around 17 hours!

There was only a handful of non-Mustang Fords present at the show, and I noticed one particular aspect of this car from about 20 feet away.

The owner used 92-95 Honda Civic door handles.

Amidst all of the perfectly painted examples in the lots, there were also a few vinyl wrapped Mustangs. The license plate frame on this 5.0 was fitting, “Paintisdead”.

Turbocharged setups, like this Coyote had, were scarce in a sea of superchargers. Its Racestar wheels and Mickey Thompson drag radials displayed evidence of the previous night at the strip.

Rounding out the options for exterior finish, was this plasti-dipped fifth-generation clad in the iconic airplane shark teeth and a set of RTR wheels.

The limited production Shelby GT500 was built as a sports car contender with almost 600hp.

This particular one now assigned to family duties had a Recaro baby seat in the back.

This blue fastback had competed in a past Ultimate Street Car Challenge. The clean bodywork and extent of modifications made it an undeniable favorite.

The larger front tire size was refreshing to see after the overwhelming amount of drag themed cars in the lot.

The fully refinished interior was a nice touch on this restomod that looked ready for a circuit.

There was a pair of Fox-bodies parked across from each other that were set up for drag racing.

Underneath the hood they both had clean late model 4V engine swaps, and both had twin turbo setups.

With it’s bright orange paint, this Cobra on HRE wheels stood out for its overall cleanliness and extensive modifications.

In contrast to other cars at the show the engine bay of this car was shaved and tucked.

Taking center stage in the vendor booth area was this new 750+hp Shelby Super Snake.

There were more air equipped cars than I anticipated at this show, including this clean Grabber Blue colored model.

This Whipple supercharged sixth generation Mustang was also on air.

On the other end of the spectrum, there was a lineup of purpose built track-prepped Mustangs with this yellow classic model ending the row.

With styling cues from the early era of Trans Am racing, the slick tires and gutted interior of this car showed it was made for turns.

This example showcased the incredible variety that this show contains. If modified isn’t your taste, this one seemed to be very original.

Still retaining its stock inline six motor and interior.

Everyone loves a sleeper, but how do you make a Mustang Mach 1 into a sleeper?

Up the horsepower with a ProCharger centrifugal supercharger, and keep the stock Shaker hood intake on top.

Usually reserved for import cars, it was nice to see a set of Enkei NT03+M wheels on this Terminator Cobra.

As the afternoon came to an end, cars circled the lots looking for one empty parking space anywhere.

Elsewhere around the town of Myrtle Beach, there were smaller meets happening in different parking lots all over.

This pair of sixth generation Mustangs from Hypermotive, showed how aggressive this new chassis could look on air suspension.

That finishes up our first part; stay tuned for the rest of our Mustang Week coverage in the coming days.

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