Since the summer of 2012, junior Anthony Bravo has carefully constructed his own car from scratch, finally completing his 1979 Chevrolet Z28 recently.
Once his sophomore year ended, Bravo aggressively searched for the perfect drag racing car. Although piecing a car together would be considered a difficult task to accomplish, it was actually finding the car and the pieces that were the most stressful.
“There were various obstacles which I had to over come,” Bravo said. “If I had to pick one, it would be hunting down parts for the car because it’s very time consuming and sometimes you don’t find what you need, and it gets a little frustrating when you cannot find the missing piece of your puzzle.”
Bravo’s obsession with cars started at a young age; as he has grown, Bravo thinks of cars as a piece of artwork that someone puts their whole heart and soul into creating.
“If you are an auto fanatic and have the ability to build a car, you would do it in a heartbeat,” Bravo said. “A car is the embodiment of its owner; it speaks of what type of person the owner is.”
Bravo’s father, who is not an amateur when it comes to cars, was his main inspiration in creating the vehicle.
“My dad is the man that has shown me many of the things I know when it comes to the automotive industry,” Bravo said. “I like to think that my dad is a veteran when it comes to building cars as he has a few cars under his belt. I have helped my dad build a car but I have never built my own. It runs in the blood.”
Since Bravo has several honors and AP courses to manage, it was definitely a challenge for him to juggle his classes and sports while focusing on building up the car.
“A lot of my time went to my classes then athletics and last but not least, working on my car,” Bravo said. “I will be quite honest; I am not 100% sure how I did it, but I did.”
Josefina Bravo, his mother, completely supported her son in whatever endeavor he strived to accomplish. Because she knew it was a dream of his to build his own car, all that mattered to her was her son being happy.
“I was very proud to see my son finish his dream car, a car he dreamed about since he was five years old,” Bravo said. “To see his smile once it was done was something else. I know my son can accomplish any task he wants. He is patient, passionate, and a perfectionist.”
Junior Victoria Vasquez was initially taken aback that Bravo would set himself up to construct his own drag racing car.
“He’s seventeen and he’s building a car that was basically scarp metal,” Vasquez said.
Although Bravo spent much time creating something that no average teenager could construct, all the hard work and passion he put into car was worth the while.
