I came up with a new theory about Mike in the two halves:
In QTs movies hes known to have his characters wear the black and white suits which he has referred to as their “suits of armor”.
If you take that idea and place it in Death Proof, youll notice that in the first half of the film Mike is wearing his shiny silver racing jacket. And he is pretty much the human version of the Convoy duck on his hood. Hes even got the pompadour ducktail style hair and if you look close in certain shots his eyes even look silver. In this half he IS Death Proof. Nothing can kill him becauses hes got his jacket on (his suit of armor).
In the second half, Mike never wears his silver jacket/armor and thats why he is vulnerable to attack and he is ultimately killed because of it.
