Hip-hop-radio and custom-car...
Hip-hop-radio and custom-car czar Funkmaster Flex, "chillin'" with his show-and-go duo of '06 Mustangs. Both GTs sport blowers, aftermarket exhaust, performance tunes, and custom body and paintwork by Lou and the crew at Valanca Auto Concepts in Bronx, New York.
Horse Sense: "Music is my life. Cars are my passion." With worldwide airplay - thanks to radio, the Internet, and TV - and a personal fleet of more than 15 bad-to-the-bone whips Of all flavors, it isn't hard to tell that DJ Funkmaster Flex means every word of that sentiment. 'Ya heard?!
Believe it or not, there's a tiny bit of celebrity in every Mustang owner. Of course we're all not movie stars or pro athletes, but based on the turned heads, thumbs-up props, nods of approval, and verbal acknowledgements that come our way when we're cruising the boulevard, there's no challenging the notion that our 'Stangs make all of us somebody in the eyes of the have-nots.
Our history with Funkmaster Flex-for those who don't know, he's a world-famous hip-hop DJ and custom-car builder and a true celebrity by all definitions of the word-dates back to the '05 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Flex was displaying his "FMF" line of heavily tricked-out Ford Fusions and Expeditions as part of the Blue Oval's effort to draw youthful car buyers to the brand.
While the Flex-designed sedans and sport-utes were certainly off the hook at SEMA, it was a remark he made during a brief conversation with your tech editor that earned Funkmaster his props from the crew at 5.0&SF: "The new Mustangs are definitely hot. As a matter of fact, I bought one." He was referring to the '06 Mustang GT that serves as his daily driver.
After hearing a statement like that, we had to regroup. Here's a guy who we're fairly sure can go out and purchase any car he wants, and he tells us he pushes a new 'Stang every day? (For the record, he bought the new Mustang before his association with Ford came to be, so it wasn't a freebie.) That's major!
Flex's enthusiasm prompted us to consider a global "'Stangs of the Stars" feature; a piece that spotlights those celebrities who own, drive, and love '79-to-present Mustangs as much as we do. Even though the idea never made it to the pages of our magazine, a recent follow-up with Flex brings us this look at two serious, celebrity-owned Mustangs. That's right-they both belong to Flex.
When given an opportunity to speak with Flex, it's clear he has a lot of knowledge about, and a true affinity for, classic and modern vehicles with great performance and stunning good looks. While the Funkmaster says he has always liked cars, he didn't really catch the fever to begin collecting bad rides until the mid-'90s-thanks to having nearly five years in the radio game at that point and hip-hop's mix-tape/ album explosion that shot him to the forefront as one of the country's most preeminent DJs of the period.
Because of this exposure and its obvious lucrative rewards, Flex got serious about creating personalized whips and begain investing the fruits of his musical talent into resto-modding musclecars. The customs were originally produced by various New York/New Jersey metro-area shops. But "after being jerked [ripped off by] too many times by unscrupulous customizers, I decided to do my own thing," Flex says. "It's been on-and-poppin' ever since."
"On-and-poppin'" is an understatement. Flex definitely has things crackin' on the automotive side. His nationwide car-show tour, "Car Wars with Funkmaster Flex" is a nationally televised, custom-car-building contest shown on ESPN2. He has strong cooperative partnerships with Ford, Cooper Tires, Castrol, Turtle Wax, Hot Wheels, and other companies. These are just a couple of the business dealings that keep him and his Team Baurtwell associates on the go all the time.
Flex's dynamic 'Stang duo is made up of two '06 GTs-one is Colorado Red with white stripes, the other is black with red pearl stripes. Both are boost-induced with screw-type superchargers.
 Flex's red 'Stang received...  Flex's red 'Stang received its new body dressing from the catalog of 3dCarbon. Once again, Valanca's handled the expert installation and paintwork, and Flex selected Davin's Original Revolution bling as the home for BFGoodrich 20-inch tires. Note the slight rake in the red 'Stang's stance. While the Pony maintains its factory suspension underpinnings, Flex chose to stagger the front and rear wheel sizes to achieve the effect. |  Aside from the Ford Racing...  Aside from the Ford Racing Performance Parts supercharger in the red Mustang, the trey-valve 4.6 underhood is showroom stock. The blower generates approximately 11 psi of boost, which is all Flex needs to rock the road as hard as he rocks the turntables. |  Interior gear is stock to...  Interior gear is stock to the bone in Flex's red Mustang, save for the pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. |
As mentioned earlier, the red 'Stang was purchased first and it remained in stock trim for two months before makeover duties were handled by Valanca Auto Customs in the Bronx. The car's exterior upgrades include a complete body kit from 3dCarbon and Davin's 20-inch Original Revolution brightness on all four corners, through which the bright red calipers of SSBC's big brakes are in clear view.
"I dug the new Mustang's muscular, old-school look from the moment I saw it," Flex says about his first S197. "The simple wheel, body, and window-tint touches that Valanca's applied really make the red car look strong."
Backing up the red Mustang's strong appearance is a polished Ford Racing Performance Parts supercharger. The blower is capable of huffing 11 psi of boost into the 'Stang's stock Three-Valve engine. It certainly livens things up whenever Flex feels the need for rapid acceleration.