COOL: 14-Year-Old Girl Is Building Her Own Car

The Michigan Teen Wants to Complete It by Her 16th Birthday

When you hear people complaining about "kids today," point them to this story, about 14-year-old Michigan teen Kathryn, the girl who's determined to build her own car and have it ready to drive for her 16th birthday.

The cool kid has been interested in cars since she was 12, and has wanted to buy and restore her own Pontiac Fiero.

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The most impressive part: she only asked her parents' permission to build the car, not their cash. She saved up babysitting profits and approached her parents with a nine-point argument about why she should be allowed to take on the super cool DIY project.

Her father shared her presentation with people in a car forum, Pennock's Fiero Forum:

"1. She would like to buy a Fiero because she saw one at a show and thinks they are cool (we are Corvette people, so she has been around a few shows). Fair enough I like GM products and remember the Fiero fondly from my youth.
2. She makes the argument that it gets reasonably good gas mileage
3. It is relatively inexpensive, so she would be able to afford it.
4. She could completely restore it in the 4 years until she turns 16
5. She would learn about how cars work, it would be a cheap education for the money
6. She would only have the capacity to take one friend along with her, so there would be less distraction
7. She wants a manual so she would learn how to drive stick
8. When it is done it would be a cool historic sports car
9. She would pay for it all herself."

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Right? This girl is going places. (And she's making the car that will drive her there! Sorry, we couldn't resist.)

Kathryn, whose last name is unknown (as it should be on the Internet -- smart 'rents she's got there), is well into her project, as Jalopnik reports she went from "simple sanding and spray painting to sand blasting, welding, upholstery work and everything else she needs to do to make her car the coolest one in the high school lot in a couple of years."

And her dad sums it up best with this post in the Fiero forum that keeps tabs on Kathryn's progress: "Is it just me, or do I have a really cool daughter?"

You do, indeed, Kathryn's dad.