Strictly Stangz has come a long way since its three original members established the club back in 2009. What started off as a small community of Mustang owners in the Southern California area, has perpetually blossomed into an institution of more than one hundred club members in different cities and states.
The organization hosts an event dubbed Mustangs After Dark™ (MAD), which gathers all of its club members (as well as friends and newcomers) in the Southern California area for a one-night car show – but it’s not only about the enthusiast and their Mustang.
Strictly Stangz hosts the event more importantly to benefit those in need, like families in need, in an effort to give back to the community. Check out our highlights below to get more familiarized with crew at Strictly Stangz, and what exactly they do.
Our friend Marty Staggs at Turbosmart USA was one of the many vendors on deck at the Mustangs After Dark event. Checkout Staggs’ EcoBoost in full detail here.
“We started with just three members,” Alvin Munoz, Strictly Stangz’ president told us. “From there, we grew to about twenty members, and I had finally established a well known club. That same year on one Sunday, Jesse Rodriguez drove all the way down from Phoenix, Arizona.
One of the most memorable cars at the event was CJ Nagi’s S197 Mustang – a recipient of the Best Paint/Wrap, Best Interior, and 2nd place in the ’10-’16 V6 awards.
“We sat down and had a long conversation; and at the moment, we had a complete understanding with the same views on this club and its future. That same day, he drove back with some Street Stangz shirts and decals, and that was the start of our Phoenix Chapter.”
Stephanie Stokich and her Airlift Suspension equipped S550 GT attended the show, looking great as always.
During that same time in Los Angeles, Munoz told us that Anthony Catarinicchia had started Street Stangz with an S. The two met one night at Irwindale Speedway during the Drift Finals, which was how the Los Angeles Street Stangz chapter was started. “Sometime after that, a new chapter was to start with the help of Lalo Anguiano, managing another part of Los Angeles,” he continued.
Branden Schnell's New Edge Mach 1 caught our eye immediately, as we couldn't get over this amazing paint job his Mustang was sporting.
“We had over 100 Mustangs in our club just in Southern California. Three years later, we were excited to announce our newest chapter, started by Robert Swafford, who came to us all the way from Oregon. This was when our club then turned into a family.”
Some of the folks from GTR High Performance out of Rancho Cucamonga, California, also came out to support the event – as well as the United States Armed Forces.
As we mentioned previously, the club’s main goal has always been to give back to the community we all share. Munoz detailed how the club (and the Mustangs After Dark event) helps children and families in need by collecting donations throughout the night for local charities.
“Every show we do, we try to give back and help. For the first [and third] MAD event, we collected school supplies for a local foster home (Mia’s Foster Care Agency in Fontana, California, and Bright Horizons Foster Care Agency in Colton, California),” Munoz explained.
“For the second MAD event – we collected food, clothing, and other items for a homeless shelter named Mary’s Mercy Center, and a battered-women shelter with children named Veronica’s Home of Mercy With Children [both located in San Bernardino, California]. We do not just want to have a show with kick-ass cars, food, and music. We want to help our community and show support, while having kick-ass cars, food and music!”
This Vortech supercharged New Edge Bullitt was one of very few Highland Green Mustangs to attend the event, a real treat for Bullitt fans alike.
Munoz said that the club has had its ups and downs since its inception more than seven years ago – but overall, the club has been doing well.
Thanks To All Supporting Vendors!
“At this point, I will be moving forward with a fresh start, and with higher goals in mind for the Strictly Stangz family. I leave Street Stangz with an outstanding seven years of memories and history; but we are here to start a new journey. I am thankful for this amazing new opportunity, and I am blessed to have our club members by my side to not do this alone,” Munoz stated.
Concluding the MAD event hosted by Strictly Stangz and Chino Hills Ford out of Chino Hills, California, Munoz commented, “I want to give a huge shoutout to Mike Correra for getting us set up at Chino Hills Ford. Thanks to Jonathan Marquez, and Tim Mcgetrick, for fighting to make this event happen!
The folks at TruFiber brought out a handful of fender-flared Mustangs to the MAD event, but our favorite had to be this matte black finished S197 3-Valve Mustang. The flares work absolutely perfect on this body style, and we're a huge fan of the proportions overall on this Mustang. TruFiber did an incredible job with this one!
“We just finished the third year of the Mustangs After Dark show. This show is about giving back to those in need, and we try to find the charity group or agency that needs the most help. We contact them, and we let them know we are here to help, and we think it makes a huge impact.”
“I think the show turned out really well,” Munoz exclaimed. “We started this three years ago, and each show has been better than the last. I hope to continue this trend for MAD four.”
The Hurst Shifters / Kenne Bell Superchargers collaborative Mustang made its unofficial debut at this year's MAD event. Another stunning car to see in person, no doubt.
We couldn’t agree more with Munoz. We had an absolute blast during our time at the third annual MAD event. We had the opportunity to speak with a lot of our current partners, but most importantly, we received the opportunity to bring some amazing local content to our fans, and help those in need. We plan to travel with Munoz more in the future – to aid him and the awesome enthusiasts who make up Strictly Stangz, in an effort to cover more events with Mustang enthusiasts, for Mustang enthusiasts.
If you haven’t already, check out our live video coverage we did on our Facebook page here, and checkout what’s going on with Strictly Stangz in the future on its Instagram here.
An abundance of trophies were given away as prizes for the show awards at this year’s MAD event, ranging from classic Mustangs to S550s, and everything in between. Special thanks to the award judges, Edward Zapata and Matt Bernal.