World’s largest gathering of 1979-1986 Mustangs & Capris!

Northwest Foureye Barbecue

4th Annual NW Foureye BBQ: bigger+better= ...better!

The 4th annual NW Foureye BBQ is in the books. At one point, there were twenty-five of Dearborn's finest in Neil (FEP: "WHTLTHR79RS") Knutson's field in Arlington, WA on Saturday, making this the largest gathering of foureyes on the planet. Owners came from as far away as Portland, OR, to take part. Many drove from British Columbia. Some camped in Neil's field, others stayed in nearby hotels.

The day started early; cars began arriving at 10:00 a.m. Bull sessions started up immediately and ran all day; on-the-spot mechanical discussion and diagnostics were performed wherever needed. Foureyes were the visual and intellectual center of all conversations - everywhere one turned, there were people with tremendous enthusiasm for and in-depth knowledge of foureyed Mustangs and Capris. Sheer bliss, really.

Individual photos were taken for an hour or so, then Neil lined everyone up for a short cruise, about 8 miles, through Arlington. Periodic supervision was deemed necessary by local enforcement (who, curiously, knew Neil by name), but no driving records were blemished during the course of the day.

Upon return, burgers and dogs were served up by Charlotte and Linda, wife and sister-in-law (respectively) of our host. Nelson (FEP "Schoolboy"), Neil's son, kept busy assisting in the cookshack and snapping detailed photos of cars, interiors, and people.

New this year, a large contigent of foureye lovin' Canadians drove down to join us. They injected an interesting new flavor into the mix, with just slightly different cars, accents, and attitudes. Well met!

The weather was warm, partly cloudy, with the forecast calling for showers which never came. Just south of us, rain poured down over western Washington, but not a drop fell on Neil's field all day.

Our attendees, in no particular order:

Click individual pics for large format

Tom made this his second year running at the BBQ with his 82 GT, which is packing a good ol'

5.0/SROD drivetrain.

Also making his second appearance is Bill (FEP "billthecougarnut") from Everett, WA, in his

tough 5.0-powered '84 Capri RS.

Youngest FEP member attending was Tanner (FEP "tanner321") who brought his dad and this very sharp '84 GLX (with some GT visuals added) vert down from Surrey, BC.

One Neil's neighbors and a repeat attendee from our senior division, Ben is still cruising the streets of Arlington in his '79 Capri with straight six and automatic tranny.

Gaylord and his girlfriend Michelle pose with his '84 GT350. The car's equipped with a very custom shaker scoop originally designed to fit

classic Cobra Jet 'Stangs.

Seen last year with mismatched paint, Jarrod and his dad Marty (FEP MustangMarty") have added new paint and a spoiler to go with the pace car nose and hood on their '79 turbo 2.3 coupe.

Roy (FEP "1SLOSVO") and wife Linda crossed the border in this very clean, low-mile '86 SVO, adding a couple hundred klicks to the 33,000 or so already on the clock.

Here we have Nelson (FEP "Schoolboy") and his '79 Capri RS (just like dad's). If you were at the BBQ, you'd know Nelson's cozy position in the pic is just his way of disguising the lack of an "RS" emblem on one side (oops - sorry, Nelson!).

Chris (FEP "chalkysexplorer") was our long-distance winner, coming from Portland, OR (224 miles one-way) and another of the unprecedented three SVOs at the event. Chris's is an '84.

And here's our short-distance winner, Wesley, who can nearly see Neil's field from his house in Arlington. His '83 GT was in pieces less than a year ago; check it out now.

Here's one of the 1,001 '83 GT convertibles built - Bill is bringing it back from death's doorstep. Neil left him a windshield flyer for the event last year, but rain made it illegible! Here's your "before" picture, Bill.

Another diamond in the rough, Jeff (FEP "7t9cobra") trailered his '79 turbo Cobra 160 miles from Aberdeen, WA, as it's later-model EFI motor was having teething issues.

Here's one of the 1,001 '83 GT convertibles built - Bill is bringing it back from death's doorstep. Neil left him a windshield flyer for the event last year, but rain made it illegible! Here's your "before" picture, Bill.

Leading the Canadian delegation, Dave (FEP "Snake") traveled all the way from Halfmoon Bay, BC, in his very well-kept '81 coupe with two-tone paint and I6/auto drivetrain.

A mechanically-inclined fellow who does not want you to copy his car, Grant (FEP "twistin") came down from Surrey, BC, with a trunkload of kids and an '85 GT packing supercharged T-bird V6 power.

Canadian father and son team Wayne (FEP "4eye86gt") and David (FEP "86hatch") rolled up in Wayne's '86 GT hatch.

Troy (FEP "fastest4d") and Kaira brought the family and Troy's '84 no-option or "comp-prep" SVO

up from Woodinville, WA.

Our last-arriving Canadian cousin, Norris (FEP "black1980fiveoh") arrived from Agassiz, BC, in his sweet and souped-up '80 hatch.  Check out

the rare 4lug Boyds' rims.