The school’s autoshop class participated in the Classic Car Show at the 16th annual Los Altos Festival on October 6-7. Over 100 classic cars were exhibited, including a 1912 Model-T Ford and a myriad of Studebaker cars.

This was the ninth year the autoshop class participated in this event.

“It [has become] one of the top car shows in northern California,” autoshop teacher Greg Ely said.

The cars brought to the show were a 1989 blue Ford Mustang, a 1969 yellow Dodge Charger, a 1976 Nova and the “Tigger car” which, according to Ely, is always a crowd-pleaser.

The students worked on cars for the show for about two weeks before the show and were able to get the cars in top condition.

With Ely’s help, students fixed everything from the suspension to the brakes, and they installed new racing seats.

“[The observers] look at everything—inside and out,” senior Derek Hetzler said.

Gunn High School also brought cars to the car show. Ely, who is friends with Gunn’s autoshop teacher, readily admits there is a friendly “rivalry between school.”

Both schools presented the High School Award to the car at the show they felt was the most unique. They chose a 1934 Ford four-door touring sedan owned by Mike Gavin, a local car enthusiast. Gavin’s car is unique because it has never been restored, but the paint job and the car itself are nearly flawless.

“It would have been a sin to restore it,” Gavin said. “It has a patina of age and it would lose its character if I restored it.”

The car show as the kick-off for the new year. Autoshop had three cars in the Homecoming parade, and in the winter it plans to offer safety checks for student and faculty cars.

“You learn a lot of new things [in autoshop],” senior Mauricio Garcia said. “There’s more to cars than just driving them.”