2024 Reunion and upcoming the 2025 SVO Reunion...

[SVOPaul]

We had a great turnout for the 2024 Reunion with 33 SVO's in attendance and 1 for sale in the swap meet area. Carlisle Events really did us proud as a group with custom banners, a building for some exceptional examples, a tent for the club and cars and they had us represented in the 60 years of Mustangs display and 2 of us in the Legendary Mustangs display in Building T. There was a SVO Parade as well.

In past years we moved the Reunion around to various states to try to help make it easier for everyone to get to one but as the cars age, they aren't driven distances as much for various reasons and our lives have become busier. A standalone show has become difficult to do and our numbers are small compared to groups like the Shelby club, so we have decided to Plant ourselves and make our yearly Reunion at the Ford Nationals in Carlisle, PA from here out. This year there were 3570 Fords on the Show field making it the largest car show in Carlisle's 50-year history, combined with a large swap meet this gives everyone more to see and do than any other venue that we could possibly attend. There were quite a few vendors with SVO parts there and lots of other Turbo Ford brethren as well in attendance. The event staff at Carlisle has been extremely welcoming to this idea and offered assistance any way they can to us.

So, with that said, we will have the 2025 Reunion topic up shortly and you can mark your calendars for June 6-8, 2025, for our next annual Reunion!

Also, we support other big shows and will list them here, while not "The Reunion" we encourage everyone to go if you can. Ponies in the Smokies and Foxtoberfest are both great shows to attend. I don't ever see many SVO's at PITS but would like to...it's a heavy concentration of newer models but there are still quite a few foxes and earlier cars and it's a great setting. Foxtoberfest is nothing but Fox bodies and it's a great event. If you see other events in your areas, please let us know and post them up here in the events section. Life always keeps us busy but it's always a good time when we can get a bunch of us together.

[chalkys_explorer]

This is great news!! I was hoping to make it this year as I was only a short distance away in CT, but had to work on both Saturday and Sunday. Now with a years notice I have no excuse not to make it next year!!!

[SVOPaul]

That's a shame you couldn't make it being that close but yes.... now a year to plan!

[Bruce]

I am deeply disappointed in this decision. I have a hard time justifying 4 days of travel for a 2 day event. ( I can't sit in a vehicle for too long these days) Have enjoyed the years of Reunions but this will put me out of the game, sorry to say.

[SVOPaul]

Bruce, it wasn't an easy decision but as years go by fewer and fewer people have been able to attend for various reasons like what you are saying and others. I've personally had to travel long distances for the past 4 years with the closest drive being 10 hours with traffic. It's also increasingly hard for me to make long drives in a day. This year it was over 11 hours without stops for fuel etc. We've had difficulty getting commitments from SCCA groups and just finding autocrosses as well. But it just doesn't make sense to try to do a stand-alone event anymore if only a handful of people can show up or want to show up because there isn't another draw to taking the time away from home. The Carlisle event offers so much more for everyone to see and there are other Turbo Ford enthusiasts there in their groups. Everyone would prefer to be much closer or in their backyard including me, but we are trying to make it where we can get the most participation AND there is much more for people to see and do and this being the largest Ford event in the country just seemed a good fit. If I'm by myself, I too am going to have to break the drive up into 2 days making it 4 days of travel. I have pretty serious back issues I deal with, so it kills me to sit in a vehicle for too long as well...Clint Eastwood was right when he said getting old isn't for the weak...lol) ... We also always had to have a director or someone near the show destination to make sure hotels were good and the area was good. Hotels always show their best, but they could be located in the hood as was the case in Chattanooga when we lost our autocross dates, and the Choo Choo hotel was already booked. When we drove up to check out hotels, we found 3 of them were in some not-so-great areas and others had no trailer parking. At least with Carlisle, it's a show destination year-round for many and they are willing to help us with hotels and other details. Carlisle also does have the autocross option we didn't commit to it this year because we wanted to see what it was like firsthand. Gateway runs it and we will have the discussion about next year but it's not the best layout we've had but I think it may be something we can work with.

Now this doesn't mean we can't try to get together small regional gatherings at an autocross but for a national event it's become increasingly difficult to do with our small numbers and niche group. We tried joining in with the Saleen club once but if you remember without control and they wouldn't accept out input, the price for the track event started out pretty high and by the time they realized their mistake and changed it, it was too late for some people to take the time off or get track time because the initial offering put them off. We also found that the show classifications were screwed up and when I called and mentioned it they said they had it covered but it was obvious they just randomly picked cars because a car that was registered but never showed up at all won an award. That taught us that attending another club event mean the focus was on their club and we were pushed aside. The Saleen guys while they have bigger numbers due to the sheer number of cars made over many, many years are mostly strictly show people who don't track their cars, they also like to spend a LOT more money than we do...their event in your part of the country was at a hotel that was around $300/night which is ridiculous for our guys. I can tell you that if I'm spending $3K or more for a weekend ($6K plus when they went to CA), it's going to be on a beach with an adult beverage and no cars around. WAY back in the day we invited Lightnings and the SVT Contour group and had some participation but not a lot and the lightning guys had a tough time with the autocross because the course was so tight so what we do isn't always a fit for other niche groups.

The goal has always been to make it an affordable gathering for like-minded enthusiasts to have a good time and we have tried to do our best to make it accessible for everyone but that was much easier when these cars and owners were much younger and we drove them cross country... but now we parts being scarce and the threat of a distracted driver or a deer we don't like taking those risks as it could mean the end of our SVO.

[Bruce]

I understand why you are doing it just doesn't work out for me. I will have to look to local clubs for activities closer to home.

[Ken Potter]

I had really wanted to attend this year but with home renovations going on and a severe lack of any spare cash I had to pass as usual. I've also had a fairly major health issue which is only just beginning. It is going to take me out of the car hobby / working on anything altogether. I'm selling my 66 Fastback, the Pace Car, and the Hertz car for beginners. I will also be letting go of almost all of my NOS stash as well as good OEM stuff. Ultimately I will be selling my house and shop in the future.

I'm going to try very hard to keep the 7B since it only has 79 miles on it for as long as I can. It has some minor issues from sitting for a long time that aren't too terrible. I can no longer be around any dust, dirt, oils / gasoline fumes, or even stuff like Brake Clean or Purple Power cleaner.

It's June 25th and I've already spent all of July's budget. I haven't even received the first medical bill for yesterday. That includes any of the other usual monthly bills. I'm going to the Cardio / Pulmonary doctor next week.

[Bruce]

Sorry to hear this news. Praying for your future. Some one is going to get some good cars.

[SVOPaul]

Really saddened about this news Ken, Hoping they can come up with a plan where you can at least still enjoy your passion to some extent and without exorbitant cost.

[tbrody]

Crap! The reason there were 33 cars there is because the East Coast is a very large population center in the United States, thus more cars. By doing this you will just see the same cars and faces every year give or take a few. How does making it not at all centrally located make it more affordable for people from across the country that want to go? It doesn't. Many SVO owners are older now and the distance if driving certainly takes it's toll much more than when they were younger. I could see once every 5 years still giving Carlisle a very favorable proportion of gatherings, but every year? WOW! I very much like going to these events and visiting with the crew and meeting new folks, but I can not justify it until a change of some sort is made. This is too bad.

[SVOPaul]

We've had Reunions spread out in various areas and had a number of them with fewer than 10 cars. Only when with another event do we get more cars...why? because there is a larger draw for other things to see and do as well. We are a small group...we always see the same cars and faces for the most part. We had a guy at Carlisle from Washington state! The Ford Nationals is the largest show in the country so there is a draw and more reason for people to travel. We haven't been to Carlisle as a Reunion in 20 years. Chicago, Detroit, Charlotte, Alabama, Georgia were all not centrally located either. Would you rather go to Kentucky with 7 other SVO owners with us being the only attraction? It's centrally located after all. We have had better participation there in the past but not always and one year we did have 7 SVOs. We still had a good time, but we were limited to just us and a hotel full of horse people and a wedding party who cleared the breakfast bar like locusts.

Yes, driving takes a toll.... I personally am older, and I've been driving 10 plus hours every year for the past 4 years...I'm not trying to move it closer to me, I want everyone to get the best bang for their buck and have a lot more to see including other Turbo Ford enthusiasts. Planning the Reunions also takes a ton of time and each of our lives is extremely busy...it's not as easy as you might think chasing down hotel staff, autocross groups (the absolute most difficult part) and planning things to do if it is to be a stand-alone event. Eric is so busy that he couldn't even get a few days off to go to the Reunion no matter where it was, his job has cut his dept down to pretty much him and maybe one other I believe so asking him to plan something in Kentucky is a big ask when your livelihood has to come first. I'd personally love a short drive, but I decided to be selfless and not try to bring it to my area because I think the more the better. I don't enjoy towing a trailer for 10-14 hours, but I also don't expect everyone to come to me either and neither do any of the other directors.

We get it, everyone wants it in their backyard so all they have to do is just run down the road but it's not realistic to think everyone who travels will be happy to show up and find 7 or 12 cars and nothing else to see...every one of us has other interests too so why not jump in where you can enjoy every other Ford product in existence and maybe even find parts a Merkur guy is selling that fit your SVO in a huge swap meet?

Numbers in attendance have fallen off over the past decade...probably because not everyone wants to drive long distances like we used to when we and the cars were younger. We can't get good hotel rates by telling them "Hey, we are bringing 7 people, can you give us a discount and a hospitality room?" and I don't think any of us want to pay $200/night for a hotel for a car weekend when we could go somewhere with a beach or a mountain cabin for that kind of money. What we were down to was Foxtoberfest in Charlotte, Ponies in the Smokies, Ford Takeover (where we would be just another number), Holley Ford Fest (again we'd just be a number) or Carlisle...the largest Ford show in the country with EVERY Ford product there to see. Time of year also plays a role but each of those locations will not be convenient for someone or be in their backyard. We try and try to think of new things and not make the Reunion stale, distillery tours were a great time, but we had the smallest attendance ever that year in Kentucky .... Y'all missed out, it was a great time and we wished we had more show up and that WAS a central location, and we caught some flak from the hotel mgmt. because they gave us a rate based on 15 plus rooms and we didn't make it. They honored it but they sold out because of other events and could have made more money (they are a business after all) so they were disappointed that we didn't deliver.

You are MORE than welcome to organize an SVO weekend in an area of your choosing and you'll have our support.... a BBQ, local autocross, car show...whatever. If you can get 30 plus SVOs to show up to show that there is a large cluster of owners in that area, then great. There is no rule that says we can't have regional gatherings but for the "national show" we think it adds a lot of value if you are traveling to be able to see a large variety of cars and have lots of things to do. And when it comes to a national club event, we feel that we need someone on the ground to make sure things go right...doing things long distance strictly by phone brings about a number of risk factors that can ruin it for everyone.

So, we have Wisconsin and Minnesota...both close to each other but when Ted hosted us in Chicago (twice), which is in the middle of both those states we didn't get a lot of cars either and that was in your backyard and more centrally located...at least in the north (not so much for anyone in the south or east coast).

We can't make everyone happy.... we know this, we can't have it in everyone's backyard as much as we'd love to be able to do that, we are a small niche group who gets ignored by every other niche group that has larger numbers. A huge event like the Ford Nationals gives us a stage to share our unique cars, history and enthusiasm with all the other Ford Enthusiasts, most of which really probably don't understand our cars and why they are special because they are ignorant of them. Do we stay anti-social and gather in small groups of the same people or do we branch out and share our enthusiasm with other people enthusiastic about the same brand? Maybe doing so will not only bring in new blood to our small corner of the hobby but also maybe spark some interest among companies to support our cars in some form or fashion.

[tbrody]

Paul, I was certainly not trying to make anything personal, just airing my opinion regarding a standing date and a location that is most likely not convenient for most. The Kentucky reunions I attended in Richmond and Lexington were very well attended so I don't know what happened. There was a time when there were some hard feelings when club members were banned for certain reasons and others for no apparent reason it somewhat split the club as you know, I think fences have been mended and 95% of the disenfranchised are back on board with you! I certainly do appreciate the work that the directors do behind the scenes, I'm sure it is underappreciated and taken for granted. Thank You! For some years I was occupied with work and family and the SVO had to take a back seat for awhile. Maybe I am being selfish as the first week of June is also a week set aside for a yearly Canadian fishing trip, so decisions will have to be made between 2 hobbies I truly enjoy! Take Care, I hope all is well, and I look forward to seeing you sometime soon.
Tom

[SVOPaul]

No worries, I'm not taking it personally. It may not be permanent but until we can get some credible belief that we can get similar participation and support, it just doesn't make sense to continue to fight for a stand alone event at this time. This is a natural course with any aging car...we all drove the wheels off these things 20 years ago but parts availability, aging cars and people etc have reduced numbers that can attend. I backpacked through Europe when I was younger...I wouldn't dare do it now. I would fix my car on the side of the interstate if I had to 20-30 years ago....I have no desire to do that now and my back won't allow it...I'd be the one who needed to be picked up off the side of the road. So it's natural that more cars are trailered now and we don't drive them like we used to. I blew a deer off the front of one long ago...my first thought was "MY HEADER PANEL!" as I had searched and searched for one(That was before I decided to reproduce them). Of course now I no longer make the header panel due to manufacturing trouble combined with lack of interest. Then there is the light availability issue, bumper cover, hood, etc. It's more risky to drive these cars today with deer and distracted drivers....that all plays a part. Yes, there was a dark time in the club where we had a problem and the board addressed and fixed that problem...I think the only hard feelings now are from the problem itself which means nothing to us but yes, that did impact the club in a negative way. But we still had good turnouts but it did vary as we tried to find a good time of year and location. A lot of us had kids so school time became an issue, our careers impacted our ability to travel like we did long ago. It's life that gets in the way...we just have to work around it as best we can. Like I said, we would more than welcome guys getting together regionally...there is no reason someone can't have a sunday cookout in Fargo and invite area SVOs...or organize to attend a show or an autocross in an area. It's just a matter of putting it out there.

Jen at Foxy Events called me and is having an SVO Class at Foxtoberfest this October the weekend of the 25th...I'd love to see a large turnout there, we had 17 SVO's at the Reunion there 3 years ago but it doesn't have to be an official Reunion to go anywhere. I don't know yet if I can make that one because it's also the weekend of the Aero Warrior Reunion and I was asked to display my Cyclone Spoiler II in the Talladega Hall of Fame that weekend for that event...that event comes around once every 5 years and I haven't been in 20 years. It's also my birthday weekend and my wife wanted to get away for the weekend...so I have a decision to make that's not an easy one.

[svono50]

Paul has pretty much covered it already, but figured I would toss in my $0.02. We have not 'permanently' set the yearly Reunion to Carlisle, but it seems to make the most sense at this time. Hey, I have an 11hr drive to Carlisle myself, so it certainly isn't due to location. I am hopeful we can find additional spots to move the 'official' Reunion to for exposure/attendance of additional SVO owners. Until we can those opportunities the Carlisle folks showed us some great hospitality and offered up assistance on future visits to the Ford National show that will benefit all SVO owners that can attend.

Tom, I would like to see if we could spark up some sort of upper mid-west gathering for sure. I have to say I had a great time at the Cruise for a Cause event up in the Wisconsin Dells last fall. Since they host a nice auto-x event on Sunday, it is perfectly suited for our SVO needs.

It is tough to try and find an event to tap into that will be centrally located and not just push our group in a corner. At that point, just pick a major car show event and go attend it as a regular attendee. We would rather try and host an event that will help our fellow owners feel like it is at least a little more than just a big car show. We are always open for ideas, input, feedback.

[Ken Potter]

Really saddened about this news Ken, Hoping they can come up with a plan where you can at least still enjoy your passion to some extent and without exorbitant cost.

The eventual sale of my house will be pretty far off in the future. I will have a nice big shop without very many, or as many, cars as I'm used to having. Keeping the running ones for sure.