$300 Christmas Giveaway Results

David@MossMuscle · 12-16-2008

To our friends in the AFM Community,
What an awesome response we’ve received to our $300 Christmas Wish Giveaway thread!

We’ve had such a great time reading the responses and watching each of you take a few moments to imagine the Mustang of your dreams. We hope that you enjoyed sending us your thoughts as much as we enjoyed reading them.

Our job of picking just one winner was really no fun at all because there were just so many great entries. Those of you serving overseas, helping loved ones and neighbors, even those of you looking to finish that project you’ve been working on for so long. Each entry was unique and all of you are equally deserving of the $300 Christmas Wish Giveaway.
But alas, we did have to pick just one, so without further delay we’d like to present to you the winner of the 2008 $300 Christmas Wish Giveaway, Zack Madigan. Zack wrote us an impressive and inspiring entry, and to top it off, wanted only to provide a special Christmas to someone he loves dearly. Congratulations Zack, and best of luck to you in your career!

Zacks’ Entry:
Dear Santa,
In case you don't already know, I'd like to start by saying a little about myself. Though I am only a senior in high school, I have been and always will be a car nut. I often assert that my car-oriented lifestyle began at birth. I met my first car on my first birthday. My aunt gave me the Tyco toddler racer, a white and yellow, plastic car that could be pushed by your parents in lieu of a stroller. As I quickly discovered, however, I could propel myself, albeit backwards, without the help of others, an option that far exceeded the alternative: crawling. From that point on, I have been drawn to wheeled vehicles. I knew the make, model, and engine configuration of my parents' cars before I graduated preschool. In preschool, I used to ask my teacher to take me into the parking lot, so I could draw the logo on the front of the Ford vans. When we would go back inside, I would build car-shaped structures out of blocks. I am, and always have been, interested in all aspects of cars. I fix them, draw them, research them, read about them, build them, and modify them.
In first grade, I learned how to draw a car in a front 3/4 view 2 point perspective, and I have been hooked on car design ever since. I have chosen car design not only as my career, but also a lifestyle. Yesterday was the best day in my life because I was accepted to the College for Creative Studies; a school which is known to produce the best designers in the automotive field. When I read my letter of acceptance, I knew that I had finally made it; I would be able to study together with the students and professors in the program of my dreams. I then turned to the next page in the packet to find out that I had won a merit scholarship worth $24,000 because the dean of admissions had submitted my portfolio for scholarship review.
Over the past year, I have made a lot of charitable contrabutions to my community, including helping my neighbor throughout the rehabilitation process he had to undergo due to a car accident resulting in spinal injury. But, I believe my greatest contribution was organizing an event at my school known as give-a-thon, which though the collaborative effort of nearly all of the students in my 4500 person high school, raised enough money to sponsor the purchase of Chrismas gifts for over 600 families in need.
Hardly anything could improve my Christmas, so I would like to improve someone else's. The shifter I am asking for would actually be a gift for my father. Though you may think this to be corny, I would like to give something to my father as a thank you to him for all of the support he has given me towards achieving my goals and aspirations. I hope I win the contest because nothing would be more valuable to me than to be able to put a smile on his face, and a new shifter into his pride and joy, his 2008 Bullitt Mustang.

My wish list is short and sweet -
A hurst/ford racing shifter part number 056-862

Sincerely,
Zak Madigan