Important Info - Registry Update!!!  
GT REGISTRY UPDATE – Fall/Winter 2003!!

Well, summer is already over, winter is just around the corner and it seems as though we really haven't had much time to enjoy many Mustang activities this year.  But that doesn't mean we haven't forgotten about the registry - we've actually gotten quite a bit done this year so far!  It's been awhile since we've updated this page, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been doing any registry-related work lately.  Actually, it's the opposite... we've been so busy doing a bunch of other registry stuff lately (a lot of it behind the scenes), that we haven't had time to update this page.

We had quite a list of ambitious tasks we wanted to accomplish during 2003 and we've made quite a bit of progress on them so far.

Things we've accomplished on the registry in 2003:

1. Downloaded 545 new registrations into our database and updated the registered owners listings and statistics page seven times (we now have over 3,900 GT's registered!).

2. Added over 200 more photos to the photo gallery (we now have OVER 300 1982-1993 Mustang GT's featured there).  We are now pretty much caught up on the photo gallery for the first time in years!

3. Updated the donations page for the donations we've received during 2003 (13 people so far compared to 32 people in 2002) and added some details on what the donations are used for.

4. Gained a new registry / website sponsor on our main page (Fox-Body Mustang Recognition Guide).

5. Finished our 1985 Twister II Mustang GT article. This article took a bunch of research and has been in the works for a long time.

6. Started planning our first-ever 1982-1993 Mustang GT Registry get-together to be held at the Mustang Club of America's 40th Mustang Anniversary celebration in Nashville, TN, April 15-18, 2004.  We will also be celebrating the registry's 10th anniversary there (January 1, 1994 - January 1, 2004).

7. Added a new, expanded classifieds section to our message board.

8. Spent a significant amount of time working in our 3,900+ car MS Access database "normalizing" and "massaging" the data we've accumulated over the last 9+ years and writing new queries so we can start providing more registry statistics on the web site. This was needed primarily due to the different methods we have used to collect the data for the registry, the addition of a bunch more database fields over the years for more detailed and accurate data collection and because of the different database programs we have used over the years (started out using Dbase IV, moved to Paradox 5.0 and now using MS Access).

9. Expanded our statistics page by adding 3 new tables for % of Registered Hatchbacks by Roof Type, % of Registered GT's by Rear Axle Ratio and % of Registered GT's by Transmission.

In addition, we have purchased a new notebook computer which will be used solely for registry purposes.  It has become increasingly difficult for us to find the time to get registry work done since we have had only one home computer which had to be shared between 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids - ages 14 and 11) and we are "on-the-go" a lot of the time (especially during the spring, summer and fall with traveling, camping, school sports, etc.).  The purchase of a notebook computer for the registry has finally enabled us to make the most of our time we spend traveling, waiting for the kids at music lessons and sports practices, etc. to work on the registry's database and web site related articles and projects.  We have been considering purchasing one for a LONG time and finally decided to get one now that notebook prices have come down to a reasonable price range.  The large amount of progress this year on the registry is a direct result of the purchase of this computer.

Here's a list of goals for the remainder of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 (in no particular order):

1. Publicize the registry as much as possible to continue gather data on 1982-1993 Mustang GT's (on the web, at car shows and other events, in magazines, etc.).

2. Finish and post some more of the articles we have in the works about Dominators, Predators, '83-'84 Turbo GT's, '82 GT's and other specific 3rd generation GT models.

3. Expand our tech and year-by-year sections to include a FAQ, other various tech articles and literature/brochure pictures, etc.

4. Finish plans for our first-ever 1982-1993 Mustang GT Registry get-together (see above).

5. Work out some more sponsorships with Mustang-related vendors.

6. Order and sell some more registry decals.

7. Do a bunch more behind-the-scenes registry stuff, such as working on our build sheet and buck tag decoding projects and generating some more queries and statistics from the cars in the database.

8. Revise the overall look of the web site to "freshen it up".

9. Get our semi-annual spring and fall paper newsletters back on a regular publishing schedule.  For a variety of reasons, we have decided to only continue these paper newsletters until the year-by-year article series has been completed.  We will be announcing more on this later.

We want to thank everyone that has helped so far to get to the point we’re at right now… particularly those who have donated money, those who have purchased items from our affiliate vendors and also those who have spent many long hours answering questions and helping people on our message board.   We couldn’t do the GT Registry without you!!!  

We also REALLY appreciate the encouragement we've received from many of you.  Running the registry and web site can be very overwhelming at times and frequently just plain discouraging (unfortunately, I guess you can't please everybody). A few positive comments from people who appreciate what we're doing really goes a long way and is GREAT motivation to keep going. 

THANK YOU!!!

David & Kathy Bowers
1982-1993 Mustang GT Registry

 

2002 GT REGISTRY RECAP - We made some tremendous progress on the registry and web site during 2002!!   Here's a listing of what we accomplished in 2002 (in somewhat chronological order):

1. Upgraded our message board to a newer version of UBB (with many new features).  As a side note, our message board member numbers have continued to grow.  In fact, during 2002 we nearly doubled the number of message board members (from 793 at the beginning of the year to 1,566 by the end of 2002)!

2. Added a few money generating features to the web site, including the Amazon.com bookstore and our affiliate vendors links.  This became a necessity due to the ever increasing costs of running the registry and web site.  The small amount of money generated by these vendors helps to defer our costs.  We also had many people generously step up with donations to the registry which all also goes to deferring the costs of running the registry.

3. Added some GT Registry-specific merchandise for sale on our website, including the Cafepress.com store which features shirts, hats and other clothing and miscellaneous items with the GT Registry logo.  We also came up with new GT Registry decals and took orders early in the summer for a limited run of these decals.

4. Finished converting our big GT registry databases from Paradox to Access software.  This was a HUGE behind-the-scenes job which involved a great deal of programming and an unbelievable amount of time.  As a part of this, we also got COMPLETELY caught up on our backlog of registrations.

5. After the database conversion and backlog catch-up, we were able to start bringing you our GT Registry Statistics page and GT Registered Owners Listings once again.

6. The GT Registration Forms were finally converted over to our new database and they were placed back on-line ready for new members to submit info from their GT's!!

7. Worked on getting the photo gallery caught up during October-November and added well over 100 GT's.  We were finally able to do this once the GT registration process was back on-line and manageable (and we finally had adequate server space).  

8. Posted our new Canadian Mustang GT article.  This article had been in the works for a long time and is the first of many new articles we're planning to add to the web site over the next year.

9. Had our ISP move the web site to a different (faster, more reliable) server shortly before Christmas. This resulted in some unexpected downtime for both the message board and the registration forms for a period of time as our ISP worked the bugs out from the move.