NZ National Ford Mustang Convention History

• New Zealand’s very first national Mustang convention was held in Taranaki on Labour weekend in 1979 and followed on from an event held one year earlier which saw Cadillac and Mustang owners getting together to stage a car show

• Drag racing was introduced to the convention programme by the Waikato group for the 4th Annual Mustang Convention in 1982 with Champion Dragway, Meremere providing the venue and some of the expertise needed to operate the track. This feature was repeated again in 1987 when the Waikato Mustang Owners Club again hosted the national convention.

• Participation in the annual convention crept into three digits for the 1995 event hosted by the Auckland Mustang Owners Club when 100 Ford Mustangs were registered. This was at Auckland’s fourth staging of the convention. This feat was repeated in the new millennium when Auckland again attracted 100 Mustangs to the 2000 Mustang convention.

• One year later the Manawatū Mustang Owners Club set a new record with 115 cars in attendance. This number jumped to 124 in 2005 when Auckland once again hosted the convention. 2008 saw the number jump again when Canterbury hosted Mustangs and 150 of them showed up. This number skyrocketed to 239 when the Mustang celebrated its 50th Anniversary year and Canterbury once again hosted us in 2014.

• Thirty one events were staged over the years with Taranaki, Auckland, Manawatū, Waikato and Canterbury regions hosting, then in 2011 Southland joined the list of hosts with their first event based in Invercargill at which 250 cars participated.

• The Bay of Plenty Mustang Owners Club were due to host their very first convention in 2021 but the dreaded COVID-19 put paid to their plans. Which brings us to 2023 and the Auckland Mustang Owners Club Inc. once again hosting. Who knows, perhaps another attendance record will be broken.

(Convention History courtesy of AMOC)

NZ National Ford Mustang Convention Schedule 1979 - 2027

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