The Grundy Area Vocational Center automotive students are nearing the finish line on a school year-long project that, some day, will be reaching the finish line itself.

The students are building a Shelby Cobra replica kit car, and it’ll get running for the first time here soon. Once it is running, it’ll be going fast: Instructor Rob Schwiesow said it has a 450 horsepower engine.

“It’s gonna be a fast little ride,” Schwiesow said.

Instructor Nick Wickman said the project has been good for helping the students build their confidence.

“Some are very interested, and others aren’t as much,” Schwiesow said. “Some are a bit shy to get into it.”

Wickman said they see the students start tentatively and begin to take a more active role as their confidence builds.

Schwiesow said it’s great for building confidence, and it gets them prepared for whatever they do after high school.

“We’re putting them into a real world situation, where it’s like, hey, you’ve got to build this,” Schwiesow said. “You have to do it right.”

Wickman said they’re supervising the students, and doing all the safety inspections and quality assurance sorts of tasks to ensure everything is put together correctly.

Other than that, though, the students are taking the lead, getting their hands dirty.

“We’re just making sure everything’s kind of getting buttoned up,” Wickman said.

Those interested in watching the students put together the vehicle, and seeing what else the Grundy Area Vocational Center automotive students are up to, should visit https://www.tiktok.com/@gavc_auto.