1980 Chevrolet Corvette built completely by Warren County students

It’s not everyday high school students build a race car, but that’s exactly what the students at Warren County Area Technology Center did.

The students completely rebuilt a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette that was donated by the National Corvette Museum.

This has given students the chance to get a hands-on learning experience most high school students would only dream of.

“I’ve been teaching now for 22-years in Automotive and this is the third year of this program and this has been the most exciting thing I’ve had in 22-years. It grabs the students attention. When I have their attention, I can teach them some things and it’s been great.” says Michael Emberton, the Automotive Teacher at Warren County Area Technology Center.

Emberton is talking about the 1980 Chevrolet Corvette his automotive students, along with the help of welding students, have built from the inside…out.

“I mean it’s a team work thing. It’s not just you. You have to work with everybody. Its just piecing everything together. You start with nothing and you end up with something, as you can see. It turns out nice in the end. It makes you feel good knowing that you did it and put hard work into it.” says Jonathan Long, a welding student. 

Welding students did all the fabrication work on the car, while automotive students worked on everything under the hood.

“We’ve redid every part of the vehicle. They redid the automatic transmission, the engine, they completely built the engine. They have completely redesigned the suspension. They have completely redesigned the braking in it. It is an awesome car and it has performed well.”

The car took around 11-months to complete. After the car was finished students took the Corvette to LS Fest in 2017 and 2018.

For students like Albian it was more than just a class project, it fueled his passion and love for cars.

“It made me feel pretty good, you know. It made me feel like I did something right. I’ve always been into something with a motor ever since I was a kid. I grew up with four wheelers, dirt bikes, and got into cars once I turned 16. That’s how it’s been since I started.” says Albian Sadriji, an automotive student.

This was such a valuable learning experience for the students, Mr. Emberton and his students have just started working on another Corvette. They plan to have the car completed in April 2019.

The 1980 Corvette that students built will be auctioned off at the MECUM Classic Auction in Las Vegas in November.