BayCityRides.com - Ride of the Month

June 2007
Mike Wolverton's 1996 Ford Mustang GT

Summer is here and so is the Bay City Rides ride of the month for June 2007. Nothing seems to be more fitting to feature during the summer than a sweet 7th-generation convertable Mustang GT. This great example of modern American muscle is owned by Mike Wolverton and it is proudly BCR's ride of the month for June, 2007.

Mike found this sweet Mustang GT about two years ago in Bakersfield California with 68,000 miles on it. Within minutes of seeing the car, it was his to cruise on the open road. And cruising is what he did! He drove it nearly 100 miles total in his first day of ownership, and there was many more miles to come. With its 2.73 rear end gear, it gets a great 28 miles per gallon which makes it a great cross country car. Within a few months of ownership, Mike made 3 cross country trips and racked up the miles clear past 100,000. Since new, he's racked up 66,000 miles and it has never left him stranded.

On the outside, this Mustang is like none that you've ever seen before. It has new paint which Mike calls "Deep Forest Blue." He calls it this because he had his painter mix in blue with the stock forest green color giving it a green and blue shine. Below the paint lies a HO Fibertrends 4" Cobra RR hood, giving it super muscle look. The front is topped off with a Mach 1 chin spoiler and the rear ends with a Roush spoiler. He had the locks shaved as well. The Stang is lowered with an Eibach prokit and the wheel and tire combo is an awesome looking set of American Racing Torque Thrust 2s 17x9s wrapped with 275/40s and 17x11s wrapped in 315/35s. This wheel and tire combination gives this Mustang a great look that is sure to turn heads.

Under the sweet 4" Cobra RR hood is a new PI engine which replaced his 100k mile engine. Bolted up to this 4.6L is a 75mm throttle body, a C&L Plenum, a BBK intake, K&N filter, and MSD coils. To get the car breathing, he has added a set of Flowmaster mufflers and a MAC H-pipe. To top the engine off, it was tuned with a SCT computer reflash.

Although this Mustang definitely moves, and looks great doing it, Mike has never had the intention of making this an all out straight line car. His driving background is Autocross but since moving to Michigan , he has adapted to our "straight line only" ways. But as he says, he built the car to be an "all around great performer."

Congratulations Mike, and thank you for being Bay City Rides ride of the month for June!

Written by: Nick Leonard
Photos: Ryan Hegenauer