The Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup [Gallery]

So I have a car that sort of "ended up" with me a few years back, and I just sort of bring it out now & then, but I've really wanted to take a highway trip in it for a very long time.  I nicknamed her "Green-Eyed Lady," as she is very, very green, and she originally lived in Denver about the time the Colorado band Sugarloaf released the song with that title. This weekend, I did just that, heading to Steamboat Springs for the 29th Annual Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup.

Believe it or not, I have been disappointed in the past to realize that I don't really find car shows all that exciting.  You can only look at so many before they all start to seem the same.

This weekend, I discovered that is not true with me if the cars are all Mustangs (which, I know, probably sounds way more boring whether you're a fan or not!)

That's exactly what I love about these cars, though.  With many of the old muscle cars from the late 60s & early 70s, if you've seen one, you've probably seen a hundred more just like it.  With the 1st generation Mustangs, even when they were new and original, it seems like Ford tended to throw on whatever parts they had laying around that day.  And there were so many good ones, in my opinion.  So many versions of the same great concept.  Also, I've loved these cars since I was like 4.

For the second time in my life, I am a Mustang owner, as years after my first car died for good, I was surprised to inherit a lime-green '71 that was my dad's retirement project.  When he passed on, my big brother, who did a lot of the work on it, had no problem letting it go to me (he's a Ranchero/Torino guy, which is another reason I have gravitated toward these cars.)  I didn't want to enter it in the show & shine, however, because it isn't 100% perfect, and I didn't want to get all looked down on for it - that's no fun.  But, when the guy next to me with a similar, bronze one, and I got to talking, we decided I should occupy the space next to his.  For the next three hours, he and I talked gears, and I also took a walk to drool over all the Mustangs.  I saw so many I've only heard of before, like the Boss 429 and the '67 Shelby with a 428 Cobra Jet under the hood.

It was one of the most fun weekends of my life, bringing this car out of its cozy garage and out on a road trip with my wife and girls.  Even though I missed the 30 miles per gallon of my Toyota, as a 351 Cleveland engine rarely gets better than 15, the whole experience was beyond cool.

This was the first time I'd been to Steamboat during summer weather in over a decade, and it seems official that any trip to that place equals wonder and amazement.