March Mustang of the Month

This is my first installation of Mustang of the Month (click for more info) in cooperation with the Mustang Owners Club of South Eastern Michigan (MOCSEM). To kick off this monthly feature, we are showcasing the Mustang of the man who runs the show at MOCSEM. Mike Rey is the President of MOCSEM and he and his wife are the proud owners of this beautiful 2005 Mustang GT.

Mike had this to say about his Mustang and his place with MOCSEM:
“It was May of 2005 and I had been looking and drooling over the new Mustang body style for months at this point. I loved it, and wanted one very badly. The wife did not like the front end too much (which was my favorite part). So after some talking and arguing about whether to get a convertible or coupe (I actually wanted a convertible), we decided to go to our dealership and place an order for one. At this time we knew the wait on orders was taking up to 6 months to get a new Mustang but I went to my guy who at the time was a sales manager at a dealership and he pushed it through. We only had to wait less than 6 weeks! I already had a vision about the car, and wanted to name it "1 BADD 05"- I had a garage full of parts waiting to be put on, wheels, modifications, dress ups, etc. So on June 24th, 2005 I took delivery of my baby and the journey began. Since then, I have been non-stop adding things to the car, appearance wise, performance wise, etc.

Well, now 50 trophies later along with 5 Best of Show awards, the car is starting to get known but I’m not quite done yet. Current projects in mind are upgrading the camshafts and hopefully in the near future I would like to add a polished Whipple supercharger under the hood. I have been called the "Bling King" by a lot of club members because of all the chrome on the car. I believe chrome and silver go amazing together - I actually even have a trophy for "Best Chrome". My car has a ton of modifications, performance & appearance - way too many to list but I do have a list of what was done to it at all shows. I can actually say that this car is a dream car of mine and I am very proud to be the owner, as it has brought me a lot of pleasure and enjoyment. While also costing me a fortune at times... that is part of being a car owner. Some of my biggest highlights with the car include winning my 1st ever Best of Show award, but also taking home a trophy at the Detroit Autorama in 2009. Also at the Autorama 2009, I got Chip Foose to come down and meet the club and sign my car! The car was also picked by 2 judges as Best Mustang at Mustang Alley in 2009, there were over 500 Mustangs there and 2 Judges seemed to think mine was the best. That was a great honor.

Ironically the 1st car show I ever put the car in was a little church show, where I spent the day talking with some fellow Mustang owners, who I found out were in a club for Mustangs. After they spent the day trying to convince me to join I did right then and there; this was in July of 2005 and I have been a member since. Actually as quite a shock to me during elections at the end of 2005 the President Neil Holcomb approached me about becoming his new Vice President, as the old VP had just stepped down. I was taken by surprise and was very scared but Neil had a way of convincing me to do things. So I accepted and became VP until May 2009, when Neil unexpectedly passed away from Leukemia at the young age of 42. I can’t tell you my feeling as I have never worked so well with anyone before, we were both each other’s other right arm. So I then became the new President of MOCSEM in May of 2009, a job I was not prepared to handle and never thought I would have to. Mustang Memories show planning was in full force so I had to try and continue my job as Show chairman and VP and also add all of the Presidents duties now along with it, but I have had great support throughout, especially from all of our Charter members who started the club 35years ago. If you are a Mustang lover and would like to come out to an event and see some amazing Mustangs, please come out and join us. You can see our calendar of events at www.mocsem.com. “

Congratulations to Mike Rey for being the Detroit Autos Examiner’s Mustang of the Month! Stay tuned to your Detroit Autos Examiner for my monthly Mustang features and news from around the automotive world!