Where to begin?!

I'm going to have to break the recap up into smaller posts. It'll take me from now until the next show to get all the photos on here, so I might just upload them to albums and post links instead. We'll see... meanwhile there are a few of our own personal highlights on my other blog.

First Up: "Lawman" Reunion

"In 1970, lawyer and drag racer Al Eckstrand put together a Lawman Racing Team, consisting of two 780hp Boss 429 Mustang drag cars and six 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1s, to tour U.S. military facilities around the world. It was during the Vietnam War, and servicemen were happy to see some of the musclecars from back home. Of course, Ford also hoped they would visit their local Ford dealer when they returned to the United States.

Two Lawman Boss 429s were built, one for Eckstrand demonstrations in Southeast Asia and the other for use as a show car in Europe. The first car was destroyed at sea when an 8-ton ship container fell on it, so Eckstrand hastily finished the second car, which was flown by Air Force transport to the south Pacific. Over the next three years, the Lawman United States Performance Team performed demonstrations to an audience of over 240,000 servicemen."
(credit: mustangsandfords.com)

During a Vietnam tour in 1970, a young boy named Hau Thai-Tang saw The Lawman and was so impressed that he vowed to work for Ford Motor Company if he ever got the opportunity. He is now the Advanced Product Creation and SVT Director at Ford. He had never met Eckstrand, but the event planners at Carlisle put together a "reunion" and brought not only Al Eckstrand and Hau Thai-Tang, but the original Lawman Mustang and its current owner, collector and athlete Bill Goldberg.

I had the opportunity to watch this reunion. Eckstrand shared some inspiring stories from the Vietnam tours, Thai-Tang spoke about the influence on him as a child, and Goldberg said he plans to keep the Lawman chronicle going through himself and his newborn son, planning to pass the car on to him someday. Eckstrand was presented with a brand-new Lawman Mustang in red. The whole experience was incredible and everyone was moved, fans and guests alike.

Funny side note: Bill Goldberg was overseas when the Mustang went on the block at Barret-Jackson. Someone called him to tell him that the car had blown the plants off the auction block area when it was driven in, then held the cell phone to the exhaust so he could hear it. Goldberg bought it, sight unseen, over the phone. (More on Goldberg in a future post.)

Some photos for your perusal:
L to R: Bill Goldberg, Hau Thai-Tang, and Al Eckstrand.
"The Lawman" Boss 429 Mustang