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I attended this event for the first time, last weekend, and thought I'd put a thread up here so you can get a flavour and, perhaps, join us next year 
Mustang Passion is now in its 7th year, although this was the first time I have attended. It certainly will not be the last!
The event is organised by one member of the Mustang Club GB and one from the Mustang Club of Belgium (although, as you can imagine, they have other volunteers helping out with the administration). One year it's held in the UK (usually Kent, as that where the member that arranges it lives, but also makes it easier for our friends from Belgium)...the next year it's in Belgium, which is where we headed last weekend.
I say weekend, but the trip actually started on Thursday morning, as I was riding shotgun with my friend Matt (or Cookie, as he's known on here) in his 2013 Boss 302 in the unmissable shade of Gotta Have It Green! A relatively gentle 2 hour drive down the M4, around the M25/M26, and then, finally the M20 saw us meet up with the rest of the UK team at the services just outside Folkestone.
Then it was onto the Channel Tunnel train. This was a first for me, and it really was a very painless process. I guess our early afternoon departure helped, as we pretty much had the train to ourselves. Once the train is under way, you can get out of the car but you don't leave the carriage. However, it's only about a 40 minute journey, so a quick chat with our fellow Mustang-lovers and, before you know it, you've arrived in France. Weirdly, you don't see the Channel from either side, so it's hard to imagine you've just travelled under 40 odd miles of water!
Once in France, we moved into smaller groups so we could convoy together. I think we had 4 group of 5 cars. We had lead and tail car, both with pre-programmed sat-navs, and each car had a walkie-talkie, so we tuned into our pre-agreed channel and could communicated with each car pretty well. The idea of the convoy was to always keep the Mustang behind in view. If you lost them, you were to pull over until they caught up. Amazingly, on our almost 3 hour drive to Belgium, we didn't need to do that. It seemed the locals realised we want to cruise together, so they didn't push in.
It was a long and boring motorway drive and we all stopped to fuel at the same petrol station. I wish I'd taken a photo, as we pretty much took of the place! As you can imagine, the locals were intrigued and asked lots of questions (speaking better English than me!!!) and taking lots of photos.
Another hour, and we were about 10 mins from our hotel in Liege. All four groups were pretty much together at this point, but the lead car took a wrong turn. It was pretty amusing playing follow the leader for about 30 minutes as we tried to get back on track. We certainly went through an unsavoury part of town, just as it was getting dark, but finally we made it to the hotel. We were greeted by our hosts from Belgium who had been waiting an hour or so. We checked into the hotel and then headed straight out for food. Again, because of the size of the group, we split into smaller groups and headed for separate restaurants. After a very tasty beer and a burger, we headed back to the hotel and straight to bed.
I awoke to the perfect alarm clock at about 7am the next morning. The sound of a '68 coupe firing up and idling! We headed down for a light Continental breakfast, then surveyed the gorgeous Mustangs in the car park.
After a quick drivers/co-pilot briefing, we were split into new groups, with our Belgium friends now taking up the lead and tail positions. As you'll see from my photos, we were behind a gorgeous gold '66 Fastback for the day.
We headed out in convoy and drove through some beautiful villages and countryside. The driving here was easy and very pleasant. Everyone seemed laid back, especially the locals. I don't think they know what road-rage is, even when they are invaded by a massive group of road-hogging Mustangs!
Our first stop of the day was to visit the Historic WW2 Museum Baugnez 44 at Malmedy. Although small, this was a very poignant place to visit. We spent a couple of hours here and then back in the cars to go to the Abbey of Stavelot. This was an interesting place too, particularly for all the local tourists who were walking in to find the Abbey's courtyard full of American muscle! The other unusual thing here was a car museum in the basement of the Abbey......including an S197 Mustang and a Capri. So I was happy!!
We had a very tasty three course lunch laid on for us here, before departing to our next destination, which was across the border in Luxenbourg, the Vianden Castle: Montée du Château in Vianden. This was accessed via a very slow two man chair lift........and I don't do heights!!!!!
After visiting the castle we had some free time to wander around Vianden which is a beautiful little town.
Back in our respective groups we set out for Bastogne, which would be our final destination for the evening. We arrived at the Bastogne Barracks, thinking we were a little late for the tour. Indeed we were, but our hosts had a nice surprise for us. The cars would be parked there for the night, protected under lock and key.......and gun and tank!!
A local car group, The Rusty Nuts, had very kindly arranged to give us all a lift to the hotel, which was just a 5 minute drive away. Dinner that evening was in the hotel where we pretty much took over their entire dining area!
Next morning after breakfast we had a nice leisurely stroll back to the barracks where we would spend a couple of hours having a guided tour. We also had a working Sherman Tank driving around us, laid on specially for our visit!
After a tour of the very impressive workshops at the barracks, we then set off for the memorial at the war museum in Bastogne. The Rusty Nuts had arranged special access to put all our cars (and theirs) up on the pavement in front of the memorial for a photo shoot. I didn't count how many cars there were but it had to be in excess of 50!
Once all the pictures were taken we departed the memorial to head back into Bastogne to a local college where The Rusty Nuts had laid on a wonderful BBQ/Hog Roast for us. Here, we also received our Mustang Passion 2016 t-shirts from our Belgian hosts.
After lunch The Rusty Nuts took us on an 85 kilometre cruise around the Bastogne countryside. Now this really was a sight to behold as we had in excess of 50 cars in one continuous convoy! I can't imagine anything like this has ever been attempted or achieved around the country roads of Belgium before. What a spectacle. Every village we drove through had the local people, young and old on their doorsteps waving us by! I wish I had taken more pictures of this!
The cruise culminated in a small village called Ashouff, were we visited a bar on the river famous for its local beers.
After refreshments we continued our mass cruise, again via the country lanes back to Bastogne. This leg of the trip was one of the highlights as several of The Rusty Nuts were on Harley's, and they were effectively riding ahead of our convey, stopping the traffic at every junction and traffic lights so that we could drive through continuously! It was absolutely fantastic!
At this stage I would really like to say, if you've never visited Belgium then you really should. Beautiful countryside, breathtaking views, pristine little towns and villages and spotlessly clean everywhere, along with some of the friendliest people I have ever met.
So, on returning to our hotel we said goodbye to our new friends in The Rusty Nuts and prepared for our evening meal. This was taken in smaller groups in the restaurants of Bastogne, after which we ended up Dakota Bar, where a rockabilly band had been laid on. Many of our group partied the night away........and we certainly paid for it the next day!!!
Next morning we checked out of our hotel and set off for our final attraction, the underground caves of Hotton. Again, an amazing place to visit. We descended to 65m below ground. The caverns and caves were beautiful, covered in stalagmites & stalactites and one of them was almost like being in a cathedral, 200m long, 40m high and 20m wide in parts.
From there we set off for our final lunch before heading home. This was at an American diner in Ligne, Resto Francke, where we quickly bolted down our lunch, said our sad goodbyes to our Belgian friends and then departed for our mad dash back to the Eurotunnel and home.
The amazing thing was, we didn't really have to think about a thing during the entire trip. Each place we visited had been pre-paid, as had most of our meals (we'd pre-ordered, too!). It really was just a case of follow the Mustang in front for 3 days!
The amount of organisation doesn't bear thinking about, but our hosts did a fantastic job and were just so friendly. I'm now Facebook friends with about half a dozen of them, so I can track their Mustang fun and they can track mine!
So, next year's event will be in the UK, with a return trip to Belgium in 2018. Once more details become available, I'll be sure to post it up here.
In the meantime, I'll let the photos tell the story better than words can
We all met up at the services just outside Folkestone
Onto the Channel Tunnel
The Camaro driver probably didn't expect a massive group of Mustangs to invade his territory......but he was all waves and thumbs up!
It was a long drive to the first overnight hotel, so it was a case of park up, and head out for food, quickly followed by sleep! This is everyone regrouping before the off the next morning, followed by a lovely drive in some gorgeous scenery.
The S550 wasn't part of our group......but it was lovely all the same!
That's Spa!
First stop was at the Historic WW2 Museum Baugnez 44 at Malmedy
Next stop was the Abbey of Stavelot, with a car museum in the crypt!
Car museum
Back on the road
Next stop was a stunning medieval town, across the border in Luxenbourg, the Vianden Castle: Montée du Château in Vianden
Last stop for the night was at a local army barracks, in Bastogne. We thought it was a little late for a tour and, indeed, it was. But the idea was to leave the cars there under lock and key (and gun and tank!)......then our guests taxied us to the hotel! The tour followed the next morning.
Then it was off to a stunning war memorial followed by a hog roast at a local college, courtesy of the Rusty Nuts car club......you can see their non-Mustangs here:
Beer (and steak) o clock! Followed by LOTS more beer and rock n roll!
Hangovers and car cleaning! And then off for a cave visit!
Time to head home.......the long drive back to the Chunnel, via lunch at an American Diner.
Mustang Passion is now in its 7th year, although this was the first time I have attended. It certainly will not be the last!
The event is organised by one member of the Mustang Club GB and one from the Mustang Club of Belgium (although, as you can imagine, they have other volunteers helping out with the administration). One year it's held in the UK (usually Kent, as that where the member that arranges it lives, but also makes it easier for our friends from Belgium)...the next year it's in Belgium, which is where we headed last weekend.
I say weekend, but the trip actually started on Thursday morning, as I was riding shotgun with my friend Matt (or Cookie, as he's known on here) in his 2013 Boss 302 in the unmissable shade of Gotta Have It Green! A relatively gentle 2 hour drive down the M4, around the M25/M26, and then, finally the M20 saw us meet up with the rest of the UK team at the services just outside Folkestone.
Then it was onto the Channel Tunnel train. This was a first for me, and it really was a very painless process. I guess our early afternoon departure helped, as we pretty much had the train to ourselves. Once the train is under way, you can get out of the car but you don't leave the carriage. However, it's only about a 40 minute journey, so a quick chat with our fellow Mustang-lovers and, before you know it, you've arrived in France. Weirdly, you don't see the Channel from either side, so it's hard to imagine you've just travelled under 40 odd miles of water!
Once in France, we moved into smaller groups so we could convoy together. I think we had 4 group of 5 cars. We had lead and tail car, both with pre-programmed sat-navs, and each car had a walkie-talkie, so we tuned into our pre-agreed channel and could communicated with each car pretty well. The idea of the convoy was to always keep the Mustang behind in view. If you lost them, you were to pull over until they caught up. Amazingly, on our almost 3 hour drive to Belgium, we didn't need to do that. It seemed the locals realised we want to cruise together, so they didn't push in.
It was a long and boring motorway drive and we all stopped to fuel at the same petrol station. I wish I'd taken a photo, as we pretty much took of the place! As you can imagine, the locals were intrigued and asked lots of questions (speaking better English than me!!!) and taking lots of photos.
Another hour, and we were about 10 mins from our hotel in Liege. All four groups were pretty much together at this point, but the lead car took a wrong turn. It was pretty amusing playing follow the leader for about 30 minutes as we tried to get back on track. We certainly went through an unsavoury part of town, just as it was getting dark, but finally we made it to the hotel. We were greeted by our hosts from Belgium who had been waiting an hour or so. We checked into the hotel and then headed straight out for food. Again, because of the size of the group, we split into smaller groups and headed for separate restaurants. After a very tasty beer and a burger, we headed back to the hotel and straight to bed.
I awoke to the perfect alarm clock at about 7am the next morning. The sound of a '68 coupe firing up and idling! We headed down for a light Continental breakfast, then surveyed the gorgeous Mustangs in the car park.
After a quick drivers/co-pilot briefing, we were split into new groups, with our Belgium friends now taking up the lead and tail positions. As you'll see from my photos, we were behind a gorgeous gold '66 Fastback for the day.
We headed out in convoy and drove through some beautiful villages and countryside. The driving here was easy and very pleasant. Everyone seemed laid back, especially the locals. I don't think they know what road-rage is, even when they are invaded by a massive group of road-hogging Mustangs!
Our first stop of the day was to visit the Historic WW2 Museum Baugnez 44 at Malmedy. Although small, this was a very poignant place to visit. We spent a couple of hours here and then back in the cars to go to the Abbey of Stavelot. This was an interesting place too, particularly for all the local tourists who were walking in to find the Abbey's courtyard full of American muscle! The other unusual thing here was a car museum in the basement of the Abbey......including an S197 Mustang and a Capri. So I was happy!!
We had a very tasty three course lunch laid on for us here, before departing to our next destination, which was across the border in Luxenbourg, the Vianden Castle: Montée du Château in Vianden. This was accessed via a very slow two man chair lift........and I don't do heights!!!!!
After visiting the castle we had some free time to wander around Vianden which is a beautiful little town.
Back in our respective groups we set out for Bastogne, which would be our final destination for the evening. We arrived at the Bastogne Barracks, thinking we were a little late for the tour. Indeed we were, but our hosts had a nice surprise for us. The cars would be parked there for the night, protected under lock and key.......and gun and tank!!
A local car group, The Rusty Nuts, had very kindly arranged to give us all a lift to the hotel, which was just a 5 minute drive away. Dinner that evening was in the hotel where we pretty much took over their entire dining area!
Next morning after breakfast we had a nice leisurely stroll back to the barracks where we would spend a couple of hours having a guided tour. We also had a working Sherman Tank driving around us, laid on specially for our visit!
After a tour of the very impressive workshops at the barracks, we then set off for the memorial at the war museum in Bastogne. The Rusty Nuts had arranged special access to put all our cars (and theirs) up on the pavement in front of the memorial for a photo shoot. I didn't count how many cars there were but it had to be in excess of 50!
Once all the pictures were taken we departed the memorial to head back into Bastogne to a local college where The Rusty Nuts had laid on a wonderful BBQ/Hog Roast for us. Here, we also received our Mustang Passion 2016 t-shirts from our Belgian hosts.
After lunch The Rusty Nuts took us on an 85 kilometre cruise around the Bastogne countryside. Now this really was a sight to behold as we had in excess of 50 cars in one continuous convoy! I can't imagine anything like this has ever been attempted or achieved around the country roads of Belgium before. What a spectacle. Every village we drove through had the local people, young and old on their doorsteps waving us by! I wish I had taken more pictures of this!
The cruise culminated in a small village called Ashouff, were we visited a bar on the river famous for its local beers.
After refreshments we continued our mass cruise, again via the country lanes back to Bastogne. This leg of the trip was one of the highlights as several of The Rusty Nuts were on Harley's, and they were effectively riding ahead of our convey, stopping the traffic at every junction and traffic lights so that we could drive through continuously! It was absolutely fantastic!
At this stage I would really like to say, if you've never visited Belgium then you really should. Beautiful countryside, breathtaking views, pristine little towns and villages and spotlessly clean everywhere, along with some of the friendliest people I have ever met.
So, on returning to our hotel we said goodbye to our new friends in The Rusty Nuts and prepared for our evening meal. This was taken in smaller groups in the restaurants of Bastogne, after which we ended up Dakota Bar, where a rockabilly band had been laid on. Many of our group partied the night away........and we certainly paid for it the next day!!!
Next morning we checked out of our hotel and set off for our final attraction, the underground caves of Hotton. Again, an amazing place to visit. We descended to 65m below ground. The caverns and caves were beautiful, covered in stalagmites & stalactites and one of them was almost like being in a cathedral, 200m long, 40m high and 20m wide in parts.
From there we set off for our final lunch before heading home. This was at an American diner in Ligne, Resto Francke, where we quickly bolted down our lunch, said our sad goodbyes to our Belgian friends and then departed for our mad dash back to the Eurotunnel and home.
The amazing thing was, we didn't really have to think about a thing during the entire trip. Each place we visited had been pre-paid, as had most of our meals (we'd pre-ordered, too!). It really was just a case of follow the Mustang in front for 3 days!
The amount of organisation doesn't bear thinking about, but our hosts did a fantastic job and were just so friendly. I'm now Facebook friends with about half a dozen of them, so I can track their Mustang fun and they can track mine!
So, next year's event will be in the UK, with a return trip to Belgium in 2018. Once more details become available, I'll be sure to post it up here.
In the meantime, I'll let the photos tell the story better than words can
We all met up at the services just outside Folkestone
Onto the Channel Tunnel
The Camaro driver probably didn't expect a massive group of Mustangs to invade his territory......but he was all waves and thumbs up!
It was a long drive to the first overnight hotel, so it was a case of park up, and head out for food, quickly followed by sleep! This is everyone regrouping before the off the next morning, followed by a lovely drive in some gorgeous scenery.
The S550 wasn't part of our group......but it was lovely all the same!
That's Spa!
First stop was at the Historic WW2 Museum Baugnez 44 at Malmedy
Next stop was the Abbey of Stavelot, with a car museum in the crypt!
Car museum
Back on the road
Next stop was a stunning medieval town, across the border in Luxenbourg, the Vianden Castle: Montée du Château in Vianden
Last stop for the night was at a local army barracks, in Bastogne. We thought it was a little late for a tour and, indeed, it was. But the idea was to leave the cars there under lock and key (and gun and tank!)......then our guests taxied us to the hotel! The tour followed the next morning.
Then it was off to a stunning war memorial followed by a hog roast at a local college, courtesy of the Rusty Nuts car club......you can see their non-Mustangs here:
Beer (and steak) o clock! Followed by LOTS more beer and rock n roll!
Hangovers and car cleaning! And then off for a cave visit!
Time to head home.......the long drive back to the Chunnel, via lunch at an American Diner.
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