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Mike CaSTELO
Mike Castelo has been a fan of cars since he was kid growing up in Northern New Jersey. Mike seems to lead a triple life - one part as a car guy, working on his and his family's cars, one part as an IT guy, working for a multinational electronic services manufacturer as an IT Risk Analyst (Disaster Recovery Coordinator) and one part as a classically trained musician, playing viola professionally for many of the local orchestras, ballets, opera companies and other 'gigs' like weddings and traveling rock stars.
Mike first knew he wanted to get into music at age 8 when the school system required 4th graders to take an instrument. He quickly learned that viola players were in demand and found himself playing with small groups at age 10. By high school he knew he wanted to make viola playing his profession and he auditioned for and was accepted to the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music , located in Baltimore Md.
While Mike was still attending Peabody, he met his future wife Katherine while ushering at his cousin's wedding in New York. IBM relocated her to Baltimore and then relocated her again to Raleigh. Mike was able to get on with IBM in 1993 and quickly learned computers and IT. IBM sold off the PC division to Sanmina-SCI where Mike still works today (now simply called Sanmina) as a Disaster Recovery Coordinator.
He got into Pontiacs - GTOs in particular - while attending college in Baltimore. His first GTO was a 1970 Atoll blue on blue 4-speed hardtop that he used as his daily driver for many of those college years.
While still in Maryland, he got a lead on a 70 GTO convertible for sale for only $2200. He checked the car out in the dead of winter in Alexandria, Va. It had about two inches of ice on the rear seat floorboards, had a big dent in the hood and a tired interior. The original engine and trans were long gone but it ran well on a donor Lemans 350 and THM400. A deal was made and soon it sat alongside the 70 hardtop at the apartment they were living at the time.
Late in 1993 IBM transferred Katherine to Raleigh. Shortly after arriving in Raleigh the 70 hardtop was eventually sold in hopes of putting the money into the convertible but priorities change when children come along.
2008 was a particularly painful year as Mike and Katherine lost their 3 ½ year-old girl, Angela, who had been diagnosed with a heart defect prior to birth. Every day of those 3 ½ years was a blessing as she blessed their lives with the love, warmth and happiness that only an Angel could. Shortly after her passing Katherine lost her father and step-father. 2008 was a cruel year.
Mike decided to honor Angela's memory to throw himself into the restoration of the convertible that had been sitting since 1993. In 2011 the restoration finally began, taking a full year, most of the work being performed by BMAC's Restoration located in N. Raleigh. They did the body and paint and Mike did most of everything else. You can see the restoration photos HERE. During the pre-restoration years while the car sat, Mike gathered parts including a date and period correct 400 engine and 13 heads. He located a correct code and date carb and sent it and the distributer to world-renown Pontiac guru and the man behind the Royal Bobcat package, Milt Schornack, where he rebuilt each and matched them as a perfectly tuned pair.
By 2012 the car was complete and soon began winning many accolades. He frequently runs into conflicts on weekends where there is a car show and a playing engagement. On days where he has neither, Mike, his wife Katherine and sons Christopher and Matthew enjoy riding with the top down on warm summer evenings.