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On my first day in California, I checked out AutoFest in Fontana, which is east of Los Angeles. Here, I got to see a bunch of cars from both of the TLC shows Rides and Overhaulin'. This truck was featured in an episode of Overhaulin'.
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Maybe one of the reasons it felt like my trip was so short was because we were driving so fast! We took a few laps around the racetrack at 120 miles per hour. Safety was a big concern: Before we could get behind the wheel, we had to wait for emergency vehicles to get on the track—just in case.
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My parents headed out on the track, too, but at only 80 miles per hour! One of the employees from Mother's Wax, a sponsor of both Rides and Overhaulin', took them for a spin in his wife's 1963 Chevrolet Nova, which he rebuilt.
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The owner of this 1970s Chevrolet Camaro was showing off how his car can shoot flames from the top of its carburetor. I was amazed to see all of the expensive cars, like BMWs, Mercedes, and Jaguars. They all looked so new!
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Remember the Back to the Future movies? Well, this is one of the many DeLoreans that was used in those movies to send Michael J. Fox back in time.
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After AutoFest, I sped over to the set of Overhaulin'. The idea of the show is that they pretend to steal a car from the owner, but they really spend a week totally restoring the car into mint condition as a surprise! This is a 1965 Ford Mustang. The two people in the blue shirts are Chris Jacobs, a costar of the show, and the manager from the auto shop that's being used for this episode.
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Once the overhaul crew got the car up on the lift, it was able to remove the engine. This episode of Overhaulin' was called "Rustang" because of all the rust found on the body of the Mustang. After the crew members took the car apart, they repaired the rust damage, rebuilt the frame supports and suspension, reupholstered the inside, put in a new engine, and gave it a new paint job.
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I even got to be on the show! They interviewed me to find out how I earned the trip to L.A. It was interesting that the production crew used four cameras over a whole week just to make a one-hour TV show!
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Here I am working on the seats of the car. I didn't have any experience working on cars before, but this trip got me interested in learning more. I have a learner's permit now, and I'm looking forward to getting my driver's license when I turn 16 next year.
Who
Daniel Steck, Age 15 (Hometown: San Antonio, Texas)
How
He won the "Hot Rod" Award at the 2003 Discovery Young Scientist Challenge.
Where
The set of TLC's Overhaulin'
When
Summer 2004
Mission
To spend three days on the set of TLC's Overhaulin' for an in-depth look at what it takes to rebuild cars and to visit the AutoFest car show to check out some custom cars