Mustang Alley Flexes Its Muscle In Ferndale

The 15th annual Mustang Alley event Saturday in Ferndale has come a long way from its humble beginnings.

The show that celebrates all makes and models of the Ford Motor Co. muscle car has exploded from less than 50 cars its first year to more than 800 this year, said Mustang Alley co-organizer Matt Sroka, a St. Clair Shores resident who works for Ford.

"It started as people who worked on Team Mustang and probably 20 volunteers on Mustang Alley and less than 50 cars," he said Saturday during the Woodward Dream Cruise event. "It was probably about 5 years ago when one of the guys at Ford said, 'You'll never get over 500 cars.' And we thought, let us see what we can do."

On Saturday, Mustang Alley spanned approximately a half-mile of East Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Hilton Road and had more than 300 volunteers, Sroka said.

The event is free for visitors, but the city of Ferndale collects $20 from each participant, he said, adding that proceeds raised from Mustang Alley raffles, donations and T-shirt sales benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Operation Cheer.

Mustang Alley is actually a three-day event, Sroka said; participants also had the opportunity to visit Watson Racing and the Ford Proving Grounds.

Visit www.mustangalley.net for more information.