New Zealand’s very first national Mustang convention was held in Taranaki on Labour weekend in 1979 and followed on from an event held one year earlier which saw Cadillac and Mustang owners getting together to stage a car show.

Drag racing was introduced to the convention programme by the Waikato group for the 4th Annual Mustang Convention in 1982 with Champion Dragway, Meremere providing the venue and some of the expertise needed to operate the track.  This feature was repeated again in 1987 when the Waikato Mustang Owners Club again hosted the national convention.

Participation in the annual convention crept into three digits for the 1995 event hosted by the Auckland Mustang Owners Club when 100 Ford Mustangs were registered.  Manawatū had 124 Mustangs participating in 2006.  That number climbed again in 2007 when 129 cars took part in the Waikato convention.

2008 saw the number jump again when Canterbury hosted the Mustang Convention and 150 pony cars showed up.  This number skyrocketed to 239 when the Mustang celebrated its 50th Anniversary year and Canterbury once again hosted us in 2014.

Thirty one events were staged over the years with Taranaki, Auckland, Manawatū, Waikato and Canterbury regions hosting, then in 2011 Southland joined the list of hosts with their first event based in Invercargill at which 130 cars participated.

The Bay of Plenty Mustang Owners Club were due to host their very first convention in 2021 but the dreaded COVID-19 put paid to their plans.  Normality resumed in 2022 when the Taranaki Mustang Club hosted.  Rolling forward to 2025, the Manawatū Mustang Owners Club has the honour of hosting the 46^th Annual Mustang Convention!

If you are a member of one of the seven New Zealand Mustang Clubs, we welcome you to register for this year’s event in Palmerston North at Labour Weekend.  Alternatively, to join one of the clubs, click the relevant club logo link below and email that club to check re eligibility.