Rare and seldom seen examples joined familiar favorites as LCOC members and other Lincoln owners celebrated return of the West Coast’s biggest all-Ford show at the 35th renewal of Fabulous Fords Forever (FFF).
This year’s show held at a new date and venue after a year’s absence due to the effects of Covid-19 still drew a large contingent of vendors, exhibitors and spectators. Irwindale Speedway played host to FFF for the first time on June 13, about 2 months later than the usual April event schedule. FFF featured its customary cavalcade of Mustangs, and Ford products from GT racers to Galaxies, Edsels, Cobras and many others were on hand.
We were delighted to welcome two new members into LCOC Western Region—-Gary Croan and his Mark VIII and Frank Foley with his 2006 Town Car.
In a reminder that time certainly does fly, the special Milestone display honored 80 years of Continental, 65 years of Thunderbird, 60 years of Econoline, 50 years of Pantera, 60 years of Falcon, 50 years of Capri, 55 years of Bronco, and 60 years of Pinto.
Representing several ras of Continentals in the Milestone display were Bryan Burns’ 1964 Continental Sedan, Halsey Posadas’ 1972 Mark IV and Ron Anast’s 1977 Continental Town Coupe.
Joel Shapiro with companion Toshimi entered the oldest vehicle in the Lincoln general display area, a 1952 Cosmopolitan. 1950s Lincolns are rarely seen at shows, so this was a special treat. Another super rare vehicle was Bill and Debbie Waldmann’s 2002 one-year-only Blackwood luxury truck, of which only 3,356 examples were produced.
1952 Cosmopolitan 
Joel and Toshimi with ’52 Cosmo
Elayne Bendel’s 2012 (gas/electric) MKZ Hybrid was entered and while these are becoming more common among many product lines today they were rare (just 6,000 MKZ Hybrids made) when her car was built. It allowed Lincoln luxury with high mpg ratings (almost 40). This idea once seemed like a pipe dream, but new LCOC member Rua Petty reported his 2021 Aviator hybrid made over 50 mpg enroute from Fallbrook to Yuma, AZ. That’s the Lincoln equivalent of having your cake and eating it too!
Mark VIII “bookends” anchored the row of Lincolns on exhibit. At one end was Jim Ayres’ 1998 model and at the other was one belonging to Gary Croan.
Gary Croan’s Mark VIII 
Jim”s Mark VIII from the rear. 
JIm Ayres’ Mark VIII
Between them and not already featured here were familiar favorites including a 1958 Continental convertible, a Mark VII, a 21st century customized 1964 convertible, Frank Foley’s 2006 Town Car, plus Bazil LaRoche and Russell Harmon’s 2005 Aviator. Note the new interior of the ’64. We did not have cup holders back then, proving that even a classic can be improved!
No big event can be successful without people. Some of those invovled in the LCOC effort are shown below. Special thanks to Jim Ayres and Baron Night for their work on the Ford Car Club Council, co-sponsor of FFF along with Ford Motor Company. And kudos also to Bazil LaRoche and Russell Harmon for their help in storing and setting up our LCOC booth. We could not have made it through the show without that shade!
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