When Senior Development Manager Anne Muldoon called Christian Saban at Cypress Coast Subaru, she was looking for a recommendation for a local auto body shop to help with a wish.  

Nineteen-year-old Ignacio had battled leukemia—the same illness that took his older brother from their family years earlier. His brother left Ignacio his 1998 Ford Mustang GT, and Ignacio’s wish was to restore the car in his brother’s memory.  

The timing was right for Saban to go the extra mile for Make-A-Wish. Since joining the dealership in 2019, Saban has been a part of the annual Subaru Share the Love event, where Subaru donates $250 from each vehicle sale to the buyer’s chosen charity—raising over $34 million for Make-A-Wish since 2011.  

Recently, the mission became more personal for Saban when his son faced numerous medical complications after birth, resulting in frequent hospital visits.  

“That's when I found out just how deep Make-A-Wish's mission really goes,” says Saban. “You don't necessarily realize until you go through things like that. You wake up in the hospital, you sleep in the hospital, you eat in the hospital. Your whole life is upside down.”

So, when asked for the recommendation, Saban not only offered Cypress Coast's help to manage the inspection and repairs, but he also set out to leverage their network of vendors.  

“We do all types of community work,” he says. “Anne had reached out because we worked with them before, but never like this.”    

Saban called his friend Steve Hunter from Coastal Colors, who eagerly took on the project. Hunter and his team dedicated their weekends to the restoration, handling most of the bodywork.  

“The car was in a little bit rough condition when it came in and Steve put an unbelievable amount of work into it,” says Saban. “He had all his guys come over on the weekends until late at night and they made a big deal out of it.”

The Coastal Colors team sanded the vehicle, redid the rims, and buffed out all the dings, scratches, and scrapes before painting the Mustang bright red—Ignacio’s favorite color.  

During this process, they were careful to preserve a special sticker on the gas tank cover, placed there by Ignacio’s brother.  

“No part of that exterior went untouched,” says Saban. “It looked as good as new. The team at Coastal Colors are just a great group of people. They just really did as much as they could to make it possible.”

To Saban’s surprise, Coastal Colors donated all their resources and labor to Ignacio’s car, entirely in kind.  

The Cypress Coast Subaru team coordinated with other vendors on the rest of the restoration—new seats, tinted windows, fresh carpet, and an upgraded sound system!  

“Christian's love and knowledge of cars and his commitment to the Make-A-Wish mission was evident from the start,” says Muldoon. “He’d get Ignacio's feedback on decisions for everything, and the team did a fantastic job at staying true to Ignacio's vision.”  

When it came time for the wish celebration, Saban partnered with Gold Coast Rods to transform Cypress Coast's lot into a community car meet, featuring classic old cars and all of Ignacio’s favorite foods. They even got a local bakery to contribute cake pops—Ignacio’s favorite dessert. At the center of it all, the restored Mustang was draped with a tarp and topped with a big red and green bow.  

"It brought the community together,” says Saban. “It helps them realize the impact that it has, not only on that person, but their entire family and the community. It’s just something special.”    

When they pulled the tarp off the car, revealing the restored red Mustang, tears filled Ignacio's sister's eyes. Ignacio's mouth dropped in amazement before breaking into a huge smile.  

“It was very rewarding,” says Saban. “It’s more than a wish. The families go through so much and there’s no light in that. The only way to escape it is things like this. It gives them a reason to keep fighting.”