1995 Ford Mustang GT - Trophy Wife

To go after that trophy, Charlie and Monica reloaded for 2004. To bring the interior up a notch, Superior Interiors performed a leather two-tone transformation and added a custom convertible top. Not that judges ever really see the top, but it's there. A lot of work went into making the exterior more judge-friendly. The body received an ABC Exclusive ground-effects package, including an '00 Cobra R-look front-bumper cover (we love those) and Pure Mustang Performance vertical doors. The goal was to have something different for the judges to check out. The bumper cover and vertical doors were relatively new items at the time, which Charlie believed gave him an advantage.

But he would need the paint scheme to match, and he called on several talented people to make that dream a reality. George Wilson painted the engine compartment once Jesse Kuhlman hid the wiring. Corey Stigers primed the car before Heritage Auto Body's Jay Skabo and Nate Deyermond applied the BASF R-M Diamont Oxford white on the bottom, a Chromalusion stripe, and Ford gray metallic up top. At the '04 Epping Fun Ford Weekend, the car won the Best '94-'04 Mustang trophy. "This is great, but I want the big trophy," Monica said.

"We had a good baseline from 2004, but we sat down and went over the plans for 2005," Charlie said. He needed a few more items to make the car stand out in a sea of Mustangs, so he added Boyd Coddington 18-inch wheels with BFGoodrich treads and a Fox Mustang throttle-body conversion. He redid the engine hoses and added Moroso fabricated valve covers. Superior Interiors worked its magic on the trunk, then a tonneau cover and a styling bar were added.

At the '05 Epping Fun Ford, Monica's GT convertible brought home the 6-foot-tall Best of Show trophy. "Are we done, is it complete?" Charlie asked after accomplishing their goal. To which Monica responded, "We still have to do the Dart block and build a stroker." We tend to agree with Charlie when he says, "They broke the mold after Monica was born."

Once he got the technical direction from Paul Riva and technical advice from Flowtech Induction's Ed Curtis, Scott Martel helped Charlie perform the heads, cam, and intake swap featuring AFR 165 heads, a custom Flowtech Induction camshaft, a Fox-body throttle-body conversion, and an Edelbrock intake. As you can see, even the Vortech S-Trim is polished to the max, and the engine compartment alone has more mirrors than your local Gold's Gym. Joe Bellandi also pitched in to help Charlie do the little things it takes to win 6-foot Best of Show trophies. At Performance Dyno in Concord, New Hampshire, a JMS chip was manipulated to enable the car to make 418 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. Remember-that's through an AODE, folks.