About Us
Learn more about us and the history of the organization.
Golden Horseshoe
Mustang Association
Mustangs are our passion! We drive them, race them, restore them, preserve them and just plain enjoy them.
GHMA 2024
Executive & Official Club Contacts
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President – Tyrone Fonseca |
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Vice President – Estes Moustacalis |
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Secretary – Norm Malisani |
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Treasurer – Edward Faultless |
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Membership – Richard Lee |
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Associate / Apparel – Mike Boyle |
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Past President – George O’ Hearn |
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Other Contacts & Volunteers
Monthly 50/50 – Scott Davis, Kevin Duncan
Website – Beverly Kaye Riem
Stampede – GHMA Committee members
Woodward – Norm & Karen Smart
GHMA Celebrates 30th Anniversary
THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE MUSTANG ASSOCIATION – A 30 YEAR HISTORY
On Feb 9,2025, the Golden Horseshoe Mustang Association (GHMA) celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Ford Canada head office. It was a very well attended meeting that featured presentations on new Mustang developments by a Ford Canada representative as well as a slide show on many past events by one of the original founding members. The contributions of many past and current members were also recognized because they have kept the club active even during some challenging times. As someone said, ”They joined because of the cars but they stayed because of the people.” The following is a brief history of the club and it’s everything you ever wanted to know about the GHMA but were afraid to ask.
How it all started
Back in 1995,Jim King, a Ford regional manager in Vancouver was transferred to Ford Canada head office in Oakville, Ontario. He owned a 1966 Mustang and had been a member of the Greater Vancouver Mustang Association (GVMA), so he was looking for a local area car club to join. There were a couple of existing Mustang clubs in the Toronto area. The Toronto District Mustang Club was an all-years Mustang club that had been established in the 1980s. Another one was The Golden Track Car Club that focused on performance and racing Mustangs. Jim was really interested in the 1964 1/2 to 1973 classic Mustangs, so he contacted some local Mustang enthusiasts and started talking about the possibility of a new club. To see if there was any interest, another member of the group, Roy Newman, got the Toronto Star newspaper to publish an article about a potential new classic Mustang club. Back in those days, the Wheels section of the Toronto Star was the social media for car enthusiasts.
The response was better than expected and a date was set for the inaugural meeting on Feb.12,1995 at Ford of Canada’s head office in Oakville. Over 50 people showed up at that first meeting and application forms were quickly filled out. Officers were appointed and a club constitution was developed using the Vancouver club’s version as a guide and the Golden Horseshoe Mustang Association was born. The club was open to those who owned or were hoping to someday own a classic Mustang. Owners of similar year classic Mercury Cougars were also welcomed to the club.
The Stampede shows
Later in 1995, the new club had its first car show at Meadowvale Ford in Mississauga. They called the show, the “Stampede” and it was open to all classic Mustangs, and that name remained until 2008. That year it was called the “No Borders Internationals” as the GHMA was the host for the only Mustang Club of America (MCA) event that has ever been held in Canada or outside the lower 48 states. The GHMA (and the GVMA) had become the only two Canadian regional clubs of the MCA and shared information on Mustang events. The “No borders” show was held at the Ford of Canada head office, and it attracted 437 Mustangs from all over North America. That was probably the biggest Mustang show ever held in Canada. The show was open to all years of Mustangs so starting in 2009,the GHMA changed from a classic only club to one that accepted all years of Mustangs and Cougars. Later in 2015,the Stampede name changed to the “All Ford Stampede” as it was open to all Ford company brand vehicles including trucks, imports and even Ford powered cars like Shelby Cobras.
As the Stampede show grew, it moved to various locations in the Greater Toronto Area like JC Saddington Park in the Port Credit area of Mississauga and Country Heritage Park in Milton. Many of these shows up to 2019 were also co-hosted with the Greater Toronto Area Mustang Club (GTAMC). In 2018 and 2019 it came back to the Ford head office parking lot but in 2020 the show was cancelled due to health and safety restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic. The Ford location was still not available in 2021, so the All-Ford Stampede moved to Flamboro Speedway in Milgrove. The local Ford dealer (Mohawk Ford) participated as a major sponsor along with a display of new vehicles and there was also corporate support from Ford of Canada. While it is organized by the GHMA, it is not just a Mustang show and attracts all models and years of a great variety of other Ford company brands including Mercury, Lincoln, T-Bird, Anglia and more. The show has grown to probably the biggest all Ford show in Canada with almost 500 cars and trucks registered at the 2024 event. More information about the show is available at fordstampede.ca and it is also advertised in publications like Old Autos.
Ford events and anniversaries
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mustang in 2014,the GHMA assisted Ford of Canada with a special event at Ontario Place. A group of about 30 Mustangs were arranged to form the number 50 in the parking lot. A similar event was held for the 55th anniversary when another group of Mustangs were lined up to create the number 55 on the Ford of Canada parking lot. The 50th anniversary celebrations continued at Ford in the summer of 2014 with one of the largest gatherings of Mustangs in Canada
Association membership and activities.
The GHMA is a traditional format club as it has a constitution, elected officers and monthly meetings which are held at the Ford of Canada head office. The meetings usually feature guest speakers on topics of interest to the members. In addition to the regular meetings, the club also has special events such as tours to local attractions and scenic drives on local country roads. One big event has been a group trip to the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise in the Detroit area. A large group of club members has attended for over 20 years and created lasting memories and interesting stories. An important contribution to the club has been the participation and sponsorship of the local Ford dealerships. A popular winter event has been the Salvation Army “Toy Mountain” Christmas campaign that the GHMA has supported with a monetary donation as well as toys collected by members.