DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 3, 2008 – Few things are more American than the Ford Mustang. And fittingly enough, the winner of the “Mustang Stories” online contest is U.S. Army Specialist Kory Chesher, a member of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division serving in Iraq.
Online voters selected Chesher’s story from the top 25, giving him the grand prize of a new 2010 Ford Mustang GT Coupe and a trip for two to Los Angeles for the reveal of the next generation of the classic American muscle car at the Los Angeles Auto Show on Nov. 19.
“Kory’s story perfectly captures the passion and enthusiasm that Mustang has created for more than 40 years,” said Mustang Brand Manager Fritz Wilke. “We’re pleased to award him his first Mustang and hope it brings him many years of enjoyment. We also want to sincerely thank all the Mustang enthusiasts who submitted their stories and voted at www.the2010mustang.com to make this contest such a great success.” Chesher’s entry was one of several thousand received for the “Mustang Stories” contest. Entries, which were limited to a maximum of 250 words, were submitted from Aug. 27-Oct. 15, with the top 25 stories posted Oct. 18. Online voting ran through Oct. 28.
“I want to thank everyone at Ford and everyone who voted for helping my dream of having my own Mustang come true,” Chesher said via e-mail from Iraq. “I opened up my e-mail and saw the first bold message said, ‘Congratulations: You are a Winner in the Mustang Stories Contest.’ I couldn’t read it fast enough. I’m just overwhelmed.”
Chesher, who lives in Edgwater, Fla., just south of Daytona Beach, hopes to be at the unveiling at Los Angeles. His group is returning to the United States this month.
The 22-year-old Chesher developed his passion for Mustang during a traffic stop with his father while in Louisville, Ky.
“This Mustang was in the left turning lane and I was like, ‘Wow, what kind of car is that?,’ ” Chesher recalled. “My dad said, ‘Oh, that’s a Mustang.’ I was immediately hooked. That must have been sometime in the summer of 1991 or ’92. I must have been about 6 or so.”
Chesher submitted his story with a photo of him standing in front of an Army vehicle called an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protectant). A super-size Mustang Pony badge gallops proudly on the grille of the truck, which tranports soldiers and equipment across dangerous terrain.
Chesher’s mother, Susan DuMond, says he had been saving money to buy a Mustang when he returned to the United States. “He’s got Mustang blood – he eats, sleeps and breathes Mustang,” DuMond said. “It’s his dream car. Kory was saving as much money as possible to buy a Mustang. Now’s he’s won a Mustang. It doesn’t get better than that.”
DuMond said she received a phone call at work that Chesher won. “I was jumping up and down in the office and running around,” she said. “I’m so happy for Kory. This is just fantastic!”
Chesher’s 242-word essay, “A Life Obsession,” follows:
It started when I was about 6 years old. I was in the truck with my father and we were at a stoplight. Across the road at the other light was this “car.” It drew my attention away from everything else in the world. I asked my dad what it was and he simply said, “Oh, that’s a Mustang.”
I remember it like it was yesterday. I now know that it was a 1968 black Fastback. That was almost 20 years ago. Twenty years of love, addiction, obsession. Twenty years of longing and desire.
Now I’m a solider in the United States Army deployed to Iraq. I spend my spare time tearing through Mustang magazines that my family and total strangers are kindhearted enough to send to me. Every opportunity I get I’m online poring through forums and pictures; studying every little tidbit of knowledge I can get my hands on; meticulously memorizing seemingly insignificant trivia. Names, dates, specs, colors, paint codes, production numbers, costs, anything, everything.
A Mustang of my own wouldn’t quell this life I live – it would supercharge it. The only thing greater than a life loving Mustangs is a life with a Mustang. With a Mustang to call my own I could finally experience the pride and freedom that I’ve only been watching from afar. It will ignite a passion like nothing I have ever experienced. Mustangs are my one true love.
I’m ready to go driving now...
