The 25th anniversary of the Port Townsend Kiwanis Classic Car Show includes a tribute to the Ford Mustang, which debuted 50 years ago.

Saturday, Aug. 16 at Memorial Field in downtown Port Townsend, five generations of Mustangs are scheduled for special display. Marv Fowler is bringing four Mustangs, and a friend is bringing a 1965 version to represent a fifth generation.

"I love to have a car that will handle beautifully and also go straight really fast," Fowler said. "The Mustang fits that bill so well."

Fowler is a 1976 graduate of Sequim High School, and has Jefferson County connections. He was born in Port Townsend, and his namesake is Marvin Shields, the local U.S Navy Seabee killed in Vietnam in 1965, and Medal of Honor Recipient. Shield's was his mother’s cousin and her close friend. “She always told [Shields] she was going to name her son after him.”

Although his first car was a Pontiac GTO, Fowler's father was a Ford man, and in 1979 Marv purchased plain 1966 Mustang coupe. Now he owns and operates Sequim Auto Clinic – a repair facility, not a custom shop. Aside from work, Fowler has four garages to store his 19 pieces of rolling stock, including motorcycles and RVs.

None of his vehicles are trailer queens.

"I drive every one, every chance I get," he said. "None of my cars has seen a trailer; absolutely not a single one. If it's raining [on Kiwanis car show day], my cars will be there. That's what wax is for; I wax the underside of the car, also."

He loves car shows, small and large.

“I really love going and looking at everybody else’s cars because I see mine all the time. Most of those cars you are going to see are better than when they came off the showroom floor. The people who show cars have so much pride in them and it's fun to see how they take their personal impression and it shows in their vehicles."

Fowler is president of the North Olympic Mustang Club, which he founded in 1982. The club's next regular meeting is a "Drive and Dine" on Wednesday, Aug. 20 with an evening rendezvous at Ferino's Pizzeria in Port Hadlock.

MUSTANG GENERATIONS

Mustangs set as special guests at the Aug. 16 Kiwanis show are:

• First generation, a 1965 Mustang Coupe, teal with a white top, owned by Ron Henderson of Sequim. Last year it was a Best of Show winner at a major Mustang gathering.

• Second generation, a 1977 Cobra II, white with blue stripes, with a rare V-8 motor in the years when fuel economy was prompting a shift to smaller motors. “It will chirp the tires,” Fowler said of the car owned by his daughter, Ketty.

Third generation, 1990 GT convertible, white with a white top, which he bought three years ago with 89,000 original miles. The Mustang has won gold twice in concourse judging - meaning a panel of judges go over every nut and bolt. Last year the car was scored 745 of a possible 756 points.

Fourth generation, a red 2000 convertible, known as a Saleen for the designer behind the styling. It’s supercharged with a 425 horsepower motor, racecraft tuned suspension, and unique body panels. It's the first car Fowler bought off a showroom floor.

Fifth generation, a 2008 GT Super Snake is Fowler's most expensive vehicle. It is No. 81 of 1,000 made and only one of two in the color of vista with ebony stripes (silver and black). It’s won Best of Show four times. The motor pushes 750 horsepower, and he's buried the speedometer at 160 mph.

"It is the most fun car to drive but a very dangerous car because it is totally insane,” Fowler said. “You don't feel the horsepower when you put your foot to the wood, you feel the torque. This car has torque."

CAR SHOW DETAILS

The Kiwanis Classic Car Show is open to all vehicles and motorcycles from 1979 and older. Day of show exhibitor entry is $20 for one of the community service club's most important fundraisers.

Gates open to entrants at 8 a.m. – line up on Washington Street outside Memorial Field for registration – until 9:30 a.m.. Gates open to the public at 9 a.m. Spectator admission is $5, with $1.50 for those age 12 and under. Active duty military enter free. Show T-shirts are also available.

There is a "Poker Walk" through downtown stores, prize raffles and special entertainment at 1:30 p.m. from the O'Meara Dance Studio. The Rhododendron Festival Royalty hands out trophies starting at 3 p.m. Gates close at 4 p.m.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of Kiwanis as a community service organization in the USA and abroad.

Jefferson County Parks and Recreation rules for Memorial Field: no dogs, no smoking, no alcohol. Also, no trailers are allowed on the field – parking available at Point Hudson, two blocks from the venue. For details call Dave Crozier, 360-531-0557, or email

david_crozier28@msn.com. Download a registration form from the Port Townsend Kiwanis Facebook page, or from port-townsend.kiwanisone.org.

Diamond sponsors are Bernt Ericsen Excavating, Inc., Port Townsend Paper Corp. Platinum: The Car Wash/Lytle's Auto Detailing, Enclume, L.D. Richert Construction, and Mountain Propane; Gold sponsors: Autoworks, Central Welding Supply, Edward Jones, Elks Lodge 317, Northwest Towing and Recovery, and State Farm Insurance/Steve Williams, and Westbay NAPA Auto Parts of Port Townsend.