MANILA, Philippines — He used to be a skilled airbrush artist in Las Vegas. Little did Mike Henry know that job would give him “unbelievable” recognition not just in the US, but in many parts of the world.
“Before Counting Cars, I was merely airbrushing T-shirts and license plates for tourists on Fremont Street in old Las Vegas,” recounted Mike, a recent Manila visitor for 2017 History Con at the World Trade Center. “I would put goofy hearts and draw those things even in jackets. But heck, it was paying the bills. Then, Counting Cars came about and that is a much better gig.”
Popularly known as “Horny Mike” because he loves putting horns to everything he sees, Mike was absolutely floored by how big Counting Cars has become since the show premiered on the History Channel in 2012.
“Anything that’s coming from the shop, I’m allowed to put horns if the stuff is mine,” Mike offered. “But if I do it in anything that’s for the shop, Danny (Koker) will kick my butt.”
Mike has never been to the Philippines before. It was his first visit last month for the 2017 History Con. However, when he showed up in Manila and as soon as he got off the plane, guys were shouting, “Horny Mike” and he wasn’t even wearing his trademark horns.
“I didn’t realize just how many people truly see us and know us,” Mike acknowledged. “I’m a dirty white guy who used to live in a trailer park in Michigan. I lived in a van after graduating high school. I can’t believe that I’m known all over the world now. It blew me away. We’re having a blast. We keep the popularity. It’s really unbelievable how many people recognize us.”
Even when he was still in Michigan, Mike was already doing repairs on cars and even motorcycles. “But I ran it badly. It didn’t work out. I had to move on. You learn as you go.”
Today, restoring cars has not just given him worldwide fame, the job has upgraded him to a much better status in life and he cannot be more than thankful for the good break.
He admitted to getting “obsessed” with owning seven cars. “I don’t need them,” Mike declared. “I don’t drive them. I bought a Corvette because I’ve always wanted a 1969 427 Corvette. Danny owns more than 80 cars.”
Mike’s prized possession is a 1955 eight-seater school bus. “I have a really fun bus that’s got a cool stereo system,” bragged Mike. “It’s so much fun to take out but it sounds like a race car.”
The effort that goes into doing Counting Cars is “immense,” according to Mike. “You’re not just filming the show and the stuff we get to work on. We take all day. It’s like doing three jobs. The actual work that goes into getting the show done and the timeline, that’s the hardest to meet. Sometimes, we have to finish in three months because we need to get the episode done.”
The hardest thing in their work is doing what the customers want at Count’s Kustoms, an auto shop with the Counting Cars reality TV series. “Sometimes, the customer wants something that’s nasty and will not look good necessarily,” Mike explained. “You came to me for a reason. We’re good at what we do. Let me take your idea, tweak it a little bit and I guarantee you’re going to love it. You just tell them you will do exactly what they want and then sometimes you do the opposite, yet they ended up loving what you do.”
Particularly focusing on repairing cars, Mike emphasized the most difficult part is straightening the body out. “The finished ones, they’re rusted, dented, scratched. Getting the body straight again is the biggest pain in the butt. Body work is where a lot of your expense will come in. There’s a ton of work that goes into body work.”
Thankfully, Mike insisted there’s no conflict among everyone in Counting Cars. “That’s the way we stick to each other. We’re more a bunch of friends who has a job. Just because you’re my friend or you’re the boss doesn’t always mean you’re always right. I don’t always have to listen to them.”
Aside from traveling, going places and meeting people, the biggest fulfillment for Mike is when he sees a fulfilled customer who’s happy with the job he did. “We take someone’s garbage sitting in their front lawn for years and turn it into masterpieces. That’s why we enjoy that ‘ta-dah’ moment, to roll out and brag our work. I love it. We know we did a good job when we see happy customers.”