Guys have been naming their cars since they've been able to drive them. Recently, it has even become popular for guys to name the engines powering their Mustangs. Gary Rohe named one of his powerplants after Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Well, what we thought was just a guy thing seems to be a girl thing, too, according to Nicolle Douglas of Dallas, Texas. Though we don't think many guys name their Mustangs "Sue" or "Kim" or the like, Nicolle decided to name her '93 GT "Bob."
Nicolle purchased Bob in March 1995 as an extremely beaten and bruised two-tone, Strawberry-over-gray, 85k stocker. "The mods came slow at first," Nicolle says, "but by 1999 I took home a Best '79-'00 Mustang award at a Fun Ford race." From that point on, Bob became a show favorite wherever Nicolle took him-even though he wasn't really a show car, just a clean street car. Due to lots of attention from Nicolle, Bob became cleaner and faster, winning more awards and accolades along the way.
But the usual comments about how Bob must be Nicolle's boyfriend's/husband's Mustang began to bother her. To ward off those who think a woman is incapable of owning and building a fast Mustang, Nicolle came up with the "Girls Can Too" moniker. She even joined forces with the owner of Mustang Works (www.mustangworks.com) to start her own Web site, www.girlscantoo.com. "We created the first-ever online magazine for female Ford enthusiasts," she says.
Accordingly, Nicolle uses Bob to show other women they are capable of building their own fast Mustangs. "I knew that if I were to work on something like [the Web site]," Nicolle says, "I'd want it to be as respected and serious as myself and my car." With four years under her keyboard, and the ongoing construction of Bob, Nicolle's proven her venture is no fly-by-night operation. "Today, my one and only goal with the Web site is to inspire more women to participate and speak louder in the hobby. Enjoy it while you can, ladies."
Speaking of enjoying it while you can, Nicolle had to have surgery on her left foot from pushing in Bob's clutch while enduring heavy Dallas traffic. She says she's partly to blame because she's too stubborn to add an AOD. Somehow, we think Bob is fine with that. As such, Bob is enjoying a partial retirement, but he still gets a workout every now and then.
One person not so fond of Bob is Nicolle's husband, Duffy. "He hates my car," Nicolle says, "yet he supports everything I do to it. He's helped me so much over the years with [it]." Nicolle's daughter, Hailey, doesn't have much love for Bob either-or cars in general, for that matter. Of course, that may change in a few years. We're sure she'll want to take Bob to school for a little show and tell.