Some clubs require certain credentials before they grant membership. For instance, you have to be one of the best players in the NBA to make the All-Star team. That means you have to sweat more, run faster, and shoot the ball more accurately than your competitors.
However, if you want to be one of the 1,964 people in the 50 Year Limited Edition Mustang owners club, you don’t need to be a superior driver. You just need to have the money to buy your way in (although being able to say you “know a guy” at a dealership definitely won’t hurt).
As you can imagine, though, nobody knows the finite number of spots open in that special group better than Ford’s dealers. That’s why some of them are charging hefty markups on the $46,170* rolling homages to the original Blue Oval pony car. There are at least two dealerships out there that are tacking around $20,000 onto the stickers of their anniversary ‘Stangs.
Granted, the dealers that are lucky enough to get their hands on the cars will only get one or two them, but isn’t a “market value adjustment” in the neighborhood of 40 percent a bit much? What do you all think? Would you pay close to $70K to be one of the 1,964 people who owns one of the 50 Year Limited Edition Mustangs?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
