Double The Pleasure. Double The Fun.

Extensible performance. Pony car excellence.

Have you ever had a car you loved so much that you went out and got a second one just like it so you wouldn’t have to worry about ever being without one again? Having been there, myself, I’m not sure if it’s healthy from a mental health standpoint, but it sure is something special.

Garrison Maxwell owns two Mustangs—a 2003 SVT Cobra in Oxford White and a 2000 GT with a Vortech blower. He graduated from the Ohio Technical College in Cleveland, where he took automotive restoration. He’s been a gearhead ever since his dad taught him how to change the oil in his pickup.

Mr. Pringlez introduced me. I like how this guy rolls.

Oh, and novel trivia, every Skittle (SRT4) owner I’ve ever known made a point of mentioning the ‘03 Cobra being at the top of the very short list of other cars they knew better than to mess with on the street.

On Mustangs…

[tgp] The most important automotive opinions are those of real, actual owners. As a Mustang owner, could you share a little unvarnished truth with the rest of us? What do you love about them? What do you not love about them?

[you] Some main things I love about my Mustangs is the fact that almost every part on them has an upgradable option or can be swapped for something better.

I’ve always been a fan of their design; slick curves that add a nice touch to the body of the car and also a simple design. Something that I hate about them is Ford doesn’t understand that having a cup holder right behind the shifter could cause problems if you have any drinks in it—not that I even think about having any drinks in my cars.

Another thing is they’ll never be fast enough for me.

[tgp] Why TWO supercharged, 4th gen Mustangs? To a non-Ford guy like me, they seem like they’d be so similar as to be almost redundant. Why not keep the SVT and play with a Lightning, or a Panther, or a Focus? I feel like you’ve got a pretty good reason for having two of ’em.

[you] I had a Fox Body before that I bought for $1,500, got about $500 in parts, and traded it plus some cash for the 2000 GT already supercharged. The kid I bought it from wanted $10k so it was a good deal on my part, and I picked up the Cobra since I needed to build credit and it was an OK deal, but also low miles (26k) and almost stock.

[tgp] How did you end up in this camp? Why have you stuck around as long as you have?

[you] I chose a long time ago to go to Fords because I thought I’d have better info on them and know a bunch of people that could help me on advice, tech questions, and parts. I’ve stuck with them since most parts I have leftover from previous builds could be used on future projects.

The Mustang community…

[tgp] How’s the Mustang community doing these days? Where do y’all hangout, share tech, and whatnot?

[you] The Mustang community is a great place to learn about new tech and answering questions that may arise in my build so I have also the help I need when the time comes. I have a few friends close by that I meet up with and talk/help on the builds with that provide great tips about how I can improve on mine.

This gearhead life…

[tgp] When you think about automotive culture in general, what stands out as being the biggest issue we should be working on together? What’s your biggest concern and what should we be doing about it?

[you] The biggest problem in the community I believe is some don’t know the basics like which coils to use or what wheels to get, or parts in general, and they cheap out and wonder why the new parts they ordered are bad design while the OEM parts that had lasted 100k plus miles were better than the parts they just ordered.

I believe the solution would be for people to get the mindset of “I need to fix this with good/better parts. It’s an upgrade—why would I cheap out?” and “I should do my own research to figure it out myself.”

Shout outs…

[tgp] Who’s made the biggest difference in your life with cars? How so?

[you] The biggest influence in my life about these cars would be my friends, but most importantly my dad. My friends are the competition that encourages me to keep building my cars, to work harder in making a better car than I’ve seen before, and my dad always taught me to have something nice that you’ve built yourself.

Would you like to know more?

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