Ponies for Patriots honors veterans with Mustangs at Kansas City's Liberty Memorial

The Liberty Memorial is Kansas City’s monument to honor those who fought in World War I.  That’s a pretty good place to turn our attention on Veteran’s Day, and it even makes more sense here because the festivities were car-related.  The Mustang Club of Greater Kansas City hosted “Ponies for Patriots,” where club members and the Wounded Warriors High-Five Mustang all came out to show their support.  There were Mustangs in and out of here for two days, so this club was obviously very committed to this display.

I’ve always been a fan of these 2001 Bullit Mustang GTs.  They were inspired by the 1968 movie Bullit starring Steve McQueen, and anything related to Steve McQueen is automatically cooler.  Plus, they just looked good, with their Torque Thrust-style wheels, lack of rear spoiler, and in this case, Highland Green paint.  They only made 6,500 of these, so they’re relatively unusual.  This one was as clean and new as it was in 2001—maybe better even.  Those wheels sure were deep.  The Hollywood-inspired badge on the back was a nice touch as well.

This ’66 Mustang GT also carried a cool vibe.  I really liked the black paint combined with the turquoise interior.  You just never see one like this.  It also had the wheels, steering column gauges, and GT stripes.  It looked like a mildly modified Mustang from the late 1960s should look.  There were more late-model Mustangs than older ones here, so this one really stood out.  It’s like something you would have seen in the parking lot of Sebring in 1967.

Late-model Shelby Mustangs seemed to make up a big part of the display.  This GT 500 was particularly attractive with its Red Candy Metallic paint glistening in the warm Kansas City sunshine.  This one had been upgraded with a set of 20-inch Shelby CS70 wheels for an even more aggressive stance.  Not that it needs to be more aggressive.  These have a 662-hp, supercharged 5.8-liter V8 under the striped and vented hood, so this car is an out-and-out beast any way you look at it.  It’ll top 200-mph, but it looked like it was doing that sitting still.

They don’t all have to be Shelbys or GTs or hot rods to be neat, though.  If you talk to my mom or my wife, the best Mustangs are simple old convertibles like this Dynasty Green ’65.  When Carroll Shelby described the Mustang as a secretary’s car, this is probably what he had in mind.  Even the conservative full wheel covers were still in place.  According to the fender badges, this one had been upgraded from the standard inline six to a 289 V8.  The thing is, with so many of them out there having been modified or updated, it’s kind of nice to see one like this now days.  This is the type of Mustang that originally made these cars so popular.

The centerpiece of this event was the Wounded Warrior High-Five Tour, which brought this 2013 GT 500 Super Snake.  This one has the huge wheels and wide fenders, and it needs every bit of that space for signatures.  As this car travels across the country, people can donate money to build homes for wounded veterans, and then they get to sign the Mustang with a silver Sharpie.  The display board next to this car shows a bright red, white, and blue paint scheme, but the actual car is completely covered in signatures, so they must be getting some good participation.  It’s great that they’re out there doing this for a couple of deserving families.

I was at the Liberty Memorial on Sunday morning, so those are obviously the cars that I was able to photograph.  There are 92 pictures in the slideshow below, or click this link for a better version.  And of course, thanks to all the military veterans who have helped make this the greatest country on the planet.