High-performance sports cars draw crowds on onlookers

Photo by Jim Tate
Michael Barker stands next to his 2015 Shelby, one of a group of high-performance cars purchased from the Ford driving school in Charlotte, North Carolina.

MARSHALL — It was about 10 a.m. on Saturday, when Michael Barker led a group of high-performance sports cars into the area reserved for them at the Shades of the Past car show. One after the other, led by Barker in his 2015 Shelby — and followed by white Mustang after white Mustang after white Mustang — they pulled into an already-crowded show area. After carefully parking the vehicles at a diagonal, the scene drew a crowd of onlookers curious about the fleet of vehicles, each clearly emblazoned with “Ford Performance Racing School” on each.

As it turns out, Barker was the ringleader in a family effort that brought to the area a pair of Shelbys and seven Mustangs, which, by sheer chance, were purchased from the racing school performant track at Charlotte, North Carolina. ”

There’s still another one down there, a Mach 1, we have to bring back,” he said.

Ford has an owner’s program that allows the purchasers of high-performance vehicles to attend the driving school for a two-day session. That’s what brought Barker to the birthplace of NASCAR, originally. He took his son along, and while there’s discovered that the school was transitioning to the next generation of Mustangs at the track — Dark Horse Mustangs, they are called.

“I got to drive at the drag strip and on the track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,” said Barker. “I got the email from them the day before Thanksgiving last year saying I was eligible to go down there. After that, it spiraled out of control.”

What caused that spiral was a question he asked about what the school does with the fleet of vehicles it’s replacing.

“They said they sold them,” said Barker. “I was interested in a Shelby, those had gone on sale a couple of days earlier. I was told there.were two left. You could buy two, so I took them on the spot.”

With a family member along — his won Billy — he could purchase a couple of the white Mustangs, too. One thing led to another, and before you knew it — and following several trips to North Carolina — there were nine driving school test cars in the area.

“All were purchased by family members, and one by a close friend,” said Barker. His daughter, Makala, helped ferry some of the cars back, too.

The fleet of racing school Fords was quite a sight along the long line of Mustangs that dominated one street of the show. The Mustang was the featured car this year, in celebration of its 60th anniversary.

“It’s been fun having these cars in the area,” said Barker.