Trevor Radcliffe, a junior at Carlsbad High School has recently stumbled upon the one thing  many teenagers want- a car. The thing is, this isn’t your typical car. The 1970’s Ford Scout currently resting outside his south Carlsbad home isn’t in the best shape. But Radcliffe has a mission to tackle the car and its many problems.

The Ford Scout is a car many collectors idolize for it’s unique shape and rarity, as the production of the car was discontinued.

“It was my grandpa’s,” junior Trevor Radcliffe said. “He drove it for years, and put quite a bit of a beating on it. The car was a daily driver for decades, which obviously takes it’s toll on the machine. Unfortunately, my grandpa passed away. When he died, there was no apparent use for the car, so I took the opportunity.”

The car has been sitting around for quite a while. Fading orange paint and rust characterizes the fashionable car.

“Well the car is pretty old,” Radcliffe said. “And it has been sitting outside for a while, traveling around the area from El Cajon all the way to Lakeside. No one has really been taking care of it either. It’s kind of just been left to rust and sit in the sun, which has led to the shape the car is in now.”

Blatantly put, the car is in no current shape to drive. Externally, it looks like it has seen better days.

“ It’s not too well,” Radcliffe said. “There’s quite a few problems with the engine. We think the rings around the cylinders are really loose, because the exhaust produces large amounts of smoke while the car is running. The nice thing is, because the car is so old, there is no law requiring it to pass any smog check. The more we work on the car, the more problems we discover with it, so there’s no way to say exactly what is wrong with it. I would say a lot of things.”

Letting such a piece of art be reduced to shambles is not a pretty sight. The vision is to restore the car to the glorious form it once possessed. Shiny new rims. A roaring engine.

“There will be a lot of work,” Radcliffe said. “Of course, I want the car to be ready to drive as soon as possible, but I understand there will be a lot of work and time put in before we get there. Also, being a high school student, I don’t have too much money to spend on parts. There will be a lot of work, but in the end, it will all be worth it.”