Some cars are transportation.
Some cars are hobbies.
And then there are the cars that somehow develop a personality, become part of the family, and start consuming an alarming percentage of your disposable income.
A 2024 Ford Mustang GT Premium Convertible, dressed in Grabber Blue Metallic, powered by a 5.0-liter Coyote V8, and possessing the remarkable ability to make me turn around and look at it every single time I walk away.
The seventh-generation Mustang GT came from Ford with plenty of muscle already built in. But Blucifer was never destined to remain exactly the way Ford delivered him.
First Came the Name
Grabber Blue is not a subtle color.
It does not quietly pull into a parking lot.
It arrives.
That brilliant blue paint, combined with a 5.0-liter V8 and a personality that seemed just slightly mischievous, eventually produced the obvious name:
BLUCIFER.
And once you name a Mustang, you are finished.
Because that is the exact moment when “I’m keeping this one stock” becomes the first lie every Mustang owner tells himself.
Then Blucifer Became a Character
Once I named Blucifer, I wanted to design a character that represents him.
I wanted something that still felt unmistakably like my Mustang — Grabber Blue, recognizable body lines, the attitude of the car, and just enough personality to make him feel alive.
That idea turned into a series of different looks, expressions and scenes as I experimented with what Blucifer might look like if the car itself had a personality.
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Then the Transformation Began
Blucifer started getting the little things that make a Mustang your Mustang.
Ford Performance Tune and Cold Air Intake upgrades make it meaner.
The factory grille gave way to the more aggressive RTR grille.
A CDC Classic Light Bar went behind the seats, giving the convertible that classic Mustang speedster profile when the roof disappears.
A Mustang VII wind deflector made top-down cruising more comfortable.
The exhaust received a Double-H pipe, because apparently a 5.0-liter Coyote occasionally needs encouragement to announce its presence.
The engine bay started getting dressed up.
The rear took on a more aggressive look with a diffuser and quad-tip treatment.
Lighting, trim pieces, covers, badges and dozens of small details followed.
And, naturally, there is always another modification being researched.
But One Modification Says More Than Horsepower Ever Could
Look at the license plate.
BEBIG.
It is a Florida Big Brothers Big Sisters specialty plate, and those five letters connect the Mustang to something much bigger than the car.
For years, I have been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay as a Big Brother, volunteer and advocate for mentoring.
So Blucifer does not just go to cruises and car shows.
He has become part of that story, too.
A bright blue Mustang is an extraordinarily effective conversation starter. And conversations about cars can become conversations about mentoring, community involvement and what it means simply to show up for a kid.
That is intentional.
And Blucifer Gets Driven
That part matters.
He is not being built to spend his entire life underneath a fitted cover.
There have been Mustang events, car shows, Cars & Coffee gatherings and road trips — including taking him into the Smoky Mountains for Ponies in the Smokies.
There have been beautiful mountain roads.
There was the Tail of the Dragon.
There was also the considerably less glamorous moment when the splitter met something it should not have during the Shine Run.
Blucifer won that argument mechanically.
The splitter did not.
But that is part of owning a car you actually use. You fix it, improve it and head out again.
Mustang Owner Behavior Is Completely Rational
At least that is what we tell ourselves.
You do not simply wash Blucifer.
You wash him.
Drive somewhere.
Discover approximately eleven molecules of dust.
And wash him again.
You do not look for the closest parking space.
You survey the parking lot like a military reconnaissance operation:
Then you locate an unoccupied section of asphalt approximately three counties from the building and announce:
Someone parks three spaces away anyway.
You move Blucifer.
This is perfectly rational Mustang-owner behavior.
And Then There Is the Photography
Blucifer has apparently never met a camera he did not like as evidenced by his Instagram Page.
He has been photographed in parking lots.
At car shows.
On mountain roads.
At night.
At sunset.
In the rain.
In imaginary 140-mph cinematic highway scenes.
Even as an cartoon automobile with expressive windshield eyes.
Probably from every angle except underneath while traveling through the air.
Give it time.
But Underneath All of That, There Is a Reason the Car Matters
Blucifer represents fun.
By this point in life, I have earned the right to have a few things simply because they make me smile.
Drop the top.
Start the Coyote.
Hear that V8 settle into its rumble.
Find a good road.
And go.
Sometimes Karen is beside me.
Sometimes my Little is involved in the adventure.
Sometimes I am surrounded by other Mustang owners.
And sometimes it is just me, the car and nowhere particularly important that I need to be.
That is when Blucifer makes the most sense.
And perhaps that is why the car has gradually become more than another Mustang.
It has connected itself to the things that matter to me:
There will be more modifications.
There will definitely be more car shows.
There will be more photographs.
There will be more ridiculously distant parking spaces.
And despite all available evidence to the contrary, at some point I will almost certainly utter the words:
Nobody will believe me.
Least of all Blucifer.
Blucifer
2024 Mustang GT Premium Convertible
Grabber Blue Metallic
5.0 Coyote V8
BEBIG
Built by Ford.
Personalized by Howie.
And apparently never quite finished.