Mustangs descend on Dartmouth for annual car show
Patrons and participants talk cars at the Massachusetts Mustang show hosted at UMass Dartmouth. Photos by: Christopher Shea
A line of Mustangs dated 1964 to ‘78.
Three of the Cobra Rs that were at the show.
David Gagne and his Cobra R.
A Shelby flag under the hood of a 2017 GT350.
Mustangs weren’t the only model 
The Best in Show 1981 Coupe T-Top owned by Somerset resident Jim Soares.
Soares looks at his trophy.
Patrons and participants talk cars at the Massachusetts Mustang show hosted at UMass Dartmouth. Photos by: Christopher Shea
A line of Mustangs dated 1964 to ‘78.
Three of the Cobra Rs that were at the show.
David Gagne and his Cobra R.
A Shelby flag under the hood of a 2017 GT350.
Mustangs weren’t the only model
The Best in Show 1981 Coupe T-Top owned by Somerset resident Jim Soares.
Soares looks at his trophy.
Two of UMass Dartmouth’s parking lots were filled with glinting Mustangs of all generations on Saturday for the Mustangs of Massachusetts show.
“A lot of beautiful cars today,” said Rob Houde, who is on the group’s board of directors. Some other classic and contemporary Fords were on display alongside the many Mustangs.
The event was co-sponsored by Empire Ford of New Bedford. Shows were initially held at the dealership in New Bedford, but briefly moved to the Dartmouth Mall due to limited lot space and increasing participation every year.
Even after changing to that more open location, there still was not enough space for the amount of Mustangs drivers wanted to show off.
“We actually had to turn away 20 cars that first year we had it there,” said Marketing Director for Empire Ford Linda Ferreira. “From there we thought, we’re going to move it to UMass Dartmouth — and now we have plenty of room.”
This year’s show had the biggest turnout yet, with more than 120 entries, including five of the rarest Mustangs ever produced: the 2000 Cobra R.
According to Houde, only 300 Cobra Rs, which were factory made for racing, were ever produced.
“It’s probably the largest gathering of Rs that will happen in the country this year,” he said. “Some people don’t even drive them — it's not easy to bring them together.”
Among the five Cobra owners was Leominster resident David Gagne, who has had his Mustang for nearly two decades.
While some drivers prefer to keep such a rare vehicle stored in a climate controlled garage, Gagne said he bought the vehicle for a reason: to share it with others.
“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “Use it how it was intended.”
Each car at the show was categorized by era and model in order to be judged by Mustangs of Massachusetts.
Participants and spectators were also encouraged to judge, including 12-year-old Zackary Resendes, who judged stock Mustangs dated 1964 to ‘78.
He said when his grandmother said the show was looking for volunteers, he immediately went to sign up and did a test run to show his Mustang knowledge.
“He probably knows more than me about cars,” Houde said.
The Barrington, R.I. resident said the Mustang is easily his favorite car of all time, so he’s done a lot of research on the vehicle. He said what he likes most about the car is its sound and speed.
Winning the best in show prize was Somerset resident Jim Soares, who brought his 1981 Coupe T-Top.
“That is probably one of the cleanest T-Tops we’ve ever seen,” said David Pacheco, Empire Ford’s fixed operations director.
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