With a bleak forecast and a week of seemingly endless scattered showers, the clouds finally broke the morning of April 26, 2025 to give way to a perfect Spring Day in Northeast Georgia. The 22nd Annual Spring Regional Car Show was hosted by the Northeast Georgia Mustang Club and was held at the beautiful Panoz Museum in Hoschton, GA on this Saturday.  For those who may not recognize the name, Panoz Engineering are designers and makers of beautiful exotic cars boasting Ford drivetrains for luxury street and racing applications.  Their facility was the perfect location to hold our Spring show.  Participants and spectators alike enjoyed the museum tours that were given every couple of hours by Mr. Dan Panoz, himself. 

Though the threat of inclement weather did somewhat dampen preregistration to the show, we ended up with 85 registered vehicles.  While the show was open to cars of all manufacturers, the field was dominated by mainly Mustang, Shelby and Mercury models.  There were a handful of very nice Chevys in the mix along with a couple of Panoz, and a very rare all-original 68-1/2 428CJ Mustang.  Even a gorgeous race red Ferrari made a guest appearance in the afternoon. 

Awards were presented to the Best of Show and top 25 autos.  Our best in show went to James LeQuire with his beautiful ‘66 Ford Mustang Coupe.  In addition to our top awards, the club also gave away hundreds of dollars’ worth of door prizes and some very nice gift certificates to Summit Racing and National Parts Depot – two of our Club’s Diamond and Platinum sponsors. 

Many thanks to all who attended, participated and volunteered to help.  And a very special thank you to Dan Panoz and Panoz Engineering for providing their beautiful grounds and museum for this annual show and one that’s not soon to be forgotten.   Panoz is one of our Diamond sponsors this year, and we are grateful for their partnership with the Northeast Georgia Mustang Club in 2025. 

We hope to see you all again at our 52nd Annual Fall Regional Shelby, Mustang and Ford Meet to be held on September 20th, 2025 at the very unique and scenic Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, GA. 

A Charter of the MCA in its 35th year, the Northeast Georgia Mustang Club’s focus is on building friendships with like-minded enthusiasts and supporting our community.  Proceeds from our shows are used to support various local charities that are voted on by members of our Club each year.

By Linda Plate

Photo Credit – Ronn Lippman

Seventeen Club Members and their “co-pilots” got together to help support the community at the Santa’s Toy Run Car Show, sponsored by Circle Heart Racing, LLC and the National Auto Sport Association Southeast on a chilly, but sunny day at the Michelin Raceway at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA.

The event was part of a weekend-long event at the track, and the Car Show on Saturday brought in dozens of cars of all makes and models. Entry to the show was a toy valued at a minimum of $20, and the Santa’s Toy Run slogan of bringing “Miles of Smiles” was certainly evident at this fun event, as dozens of toys were collected for needy children in the area.

To add to the fun of the event, registrants were allowed to take a couple of parade laps, and a fine BBQ lunch was also provided by the show’s promoter.

Ten “Best of Show” awards were given out, and 3 NEGMC Club Members were lucky recipients of the awards. Congrats go out to Doc Gregory with his 2016 Mustang GT, Ed & Jan Traverso with their 1966 Mustang Coupe, and Linda Plate with her 1965 Mustang Fastback.

October 5^th, 2024 brought us a beautiful Autumn day for our 51^st Annual Fall Regional Shelby, Mustang and Ford Meet at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, Georgia.  Originally scheduled for the weekend before, the threat of Hurricane Helene and potential storm damage led to our decision to postpone the event for the safety of our members and participants.  Thankfully, most who had pre-registered were still able to attend, and the weekend turned out to be a beautiful one. 

With over 150 Mustangs and other Fords participating, we had a great show!  Our featured car this year was the 64.5 – 66 Mustang, and there was a couple dozen of them present to help showcase this First-Generation model.  From coupes, to fastbacks, to convertibles – the turnout for this year’s highlighted model was very respectable.  Seventy-five awards for 12 Classes and 6 very unique Best-Of-Class awards were presented to the owners of many of these beautiful automobiles!

Each year, our Club promotes this event with sponsors including Jacky Jones Ford of Hayesville, NC, National Parts Depot, Year One Muscle Car Parts, Summit Racing Equipment and Streetside Classics… to name a few, and participants come from all over Georgia and neighboring States to enjoy the show and the camaraderie amongst other enthusiasts.  Proceeds from the show are shared at the end of the year with our chosen Charity for that year.  This year our selected charity is the Hot Rodders Children’s Charity. Improving the lives of children is the primary mission of the HRCC. By harnessing the enthusiasm and innate sense of responsibility found in the automotive enthusiast community, the HRCC successfully raises funds and awareness of various children’s causes at events throughout the year. While many charitable organizations focus on a specific need or group, the HRCC aligns with a variety of local and national organizations representing a multitude of causes. This allows the HRCC to effect positive change in the lives of many different children with many different needs.

Additionally, our Club presented Sheriff Henderson of the Towns County Sheriff’s Office with a check to support their “Shop with the Sheriff” program which helps needy children of the community with an opportunity to enjoy the spirit of Christmas and giving during the upcoming holiday season. 

Many thanks to all who sponsored, participated, or joined us as spectators for this years Fall Show!

We managed to stay dry inside the Jackson County AG Center for our Spring Show. Though we avoided the rain, area storms kept us from reaching the max number of cars this year. We still had great food and a fun time was had by all. We gave out 28 Top Twenty-Five awards (there were 3 ties) and 7 Best of Class awards.

64.5 – 78 Mustang: Gary Dyck – 66 GT350

79 – 04 Mustang: Kevin Foley – 92 Mustang GT

05 – 24 Mustang: Doc & Dorothy Gregory – 2016 Mustang GT

Top Cougar: Barry Porter – 1967 Cougar

Top Ford: Randy Porter – 64 Fairlane

Top GM: Brad Lemons – 86 Camaro

Top MOPAR: George Borders – Dodge Challenger

Enjoy the photos below provided by Ronn.

We had perfect weather and a great turnout for our 50th Annual Regional Fall Show held on Sept 23,2023 in Hiawassee Ga. We had over 225 cars parked inside the fairgrounds and many more out in spectator parking. This year we featured the Fox Body Mustangs and had nearly 50 at the show. We gave out 70 top 5 awards and had 5 Best of Show winners.

• Best Fox Body: 1993 Notchback – Kenneth Sean
• Best Shelby: 1970 GT500 – Ben Moye
• Best Ford: 1970 Cougar Eliminator – Chris Agee
• Best Early Mustang: 1969 Mach 1 – Gary Plate
• Best Late Mustang: 2008 Roush – Jerri Lynn Forrester

Special thanks to Lance Wilson for bringing his Legend of Hwy411 ’89 Saleen SSC. Lance’s choice went to Chad Watkins and his ’87 Mustang.

Here are photos of the cars courtesy of Ronn Lippman.

Thanks to everyone that brought cars and trucks to our 2023 Spring Show at AMD. Early rain showers gave way to a beautiful day that everyone seemed to enjoy. Thanks to Auto Metal Direct for providing a great venue. Also thanks to Bo and Rick from Classic & Customs Restorations for bringing a great truck and supporting our show.

Below is a gallery of the photos taken by Ronn.