SENECA, Kan. – The Seneca City Park is home to the 30th Annual Seneca Car Show, a highlight of the Nemaha County Fair. Car enthusiasts young and old come to check out vintage and new models, and more than half of the entrants are from outside of Seneca. However, one participant, 19-year-old Nick Lierz, went to high school at nearby Nemaha Central, and he used his senior learning project to build one of these classic cars.
“This is my senior project. It’s a 1967 Camaro, and I basically put the engine and transmission in, did some wiring on it, and got it running. I also put brakes and everything on it and got it to where it could move on its own and stop on its own.”
While showing the car, Lierz explained that this was an easy choice for his senior project because of his family’s background in working with cars. But even for an auto tech wiz, the project didn’t come without challenges.
“I had to do a lot of modifications for it to fit, because we had just bought the engine out of a different truck, and got it pieced together and this is what it is now.”
Even at a competitive car show, Lierz’s project caught notice from professional judges like John Reeder, who’s impressed by the overall quality of the project as well as the amount of time Lierz put into it.
“It takes a lot of hard work, and to build a car like Nick’s, a race car, it takes a lot. It’s a pretty fast car, from what I’ve seen, so it’s very impressive.”
And for Lierz, the satisfaction came with a job well done.
“I feel pretty proud of it. You know, most people my age don’t do this type of stuff, but it’s what I grew up around. My dad has always put me into cars, and it’s just fun to do.”
Author: Matt Reynoldson