The world, and in particular the automotive world, lost a real legend this week. Michael McKenzie Shaw, known to all as Ugly Mike lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 60. Mike had been the General Manager of a number of dealerships in the Houston area and had been a Car Pro contact for over 15 years. Most recently he had helped my listeners at Honda of Lake Jackson. I cannot begin to count the number of happy listeners emails I got on Mike through the years, but it is in the hundreds, if not thousands.
Regular listeners to the show will also recognize Mike as someone who filled in for me on the radio show occasionally the past couple of years. There was nobody I could have trusted my audience to more than Mike Shaw. I knew he would be completely honest with everyone and had a way of putting callers at ease immediately with his kind voice and funny sense of humor.
Mike shocked many of us just 11 days ago by posting this video on his Facebook page:
The grace and bravery he exhibited in that video was classic Mike Shaw. He knew his time was short, but wanted to thank everyone else and at the same time, say goodbye. Again, Classic Mike, always thinking of others first. The outpouring of love on his facebook page was nothing short of incredible. Mike changed countless lives by mentoring young people in the car business, many that went on to be General Managers themselves, after learning from the GOAT, greatest of all time, if you are not familiar with that term. Every dealership Mike ran went to the #1 spot in its market. He was the automotive equivalent of the energizer bunny.
In one of our many conversations years ago, I asked Mike why everybody called him Ugly Mike, since he wasn’t ugly in physical appearance or demeanor. He just laughed and said it started in high school and just stuck. Mike and I shared a love for the car business, he was an avid Dallas Cowboy fan, he loved to pick my brain on running dealerships, and like me, Mike loved fast cars and had a really heavy foot. He always said we were brothers from another mother, and I think that is absolutely true.
Mike is survived by his wife Debbie, four children, five grandsons and as he is so proud to say, his first granddaughter on the way that sadly he’ll never get to meet. Mike loved to play golf with his sons, and he was mentoring his daughter Sarah in the car business at Honda of Lake Jackson. Sarah has helped many Car Pro Show listeners, and like her Dad, does an amazing job.
Mike, I am a better man for knowing you. I thank you for your friendship, for the way you took care of my listeners, and for being the shining example for good car guys everywhere. Your legacy will live forever, and nobody who has ever met you will forget Ugly Mike Shaw. Rest in peace my brother, save me a seat at that big car dealership in the sky.
