by Garrett Fodor
Last Friday afternoon, Kingsville District High School (KDHS) hosted its 11th annual car show, which not only displayed the automotive talents of area high school students, it gave back to the community and those in need.
Kingsville District High School’s Auto Shop Teacher, Gord Osborne, organized this year’s event that fielded over 200 cars.
He explained the entrance fee was one non-perishable food item, which will benefit the Kingsville Food Bank.
Osborne has been putting together shows like this for 13 years; 11 of which have been hosted at KDHS and two were hosted at Western Secondary School previously.
He said the goal of the show is to unite the community, share ideas, and also give back to those in need. Osborne said he hopes to donate over $2,000 to the Kingsville Food Bank from the event.
“I put this on so we can get the tech students to debut their skills and see what the community tech people do. Most of the people who bring out these cars are techs. Even if they are not a licensed technician, they are enthusiasts [who] love and have a passion for it and that is what a lot of students who come through our program do,” Osborne said. “Overall, this event connects the community and the school, while bringing together two different demographics for one passion.”
“Dragula 2.0” was the centerpiece of the show. Around 150 KDHS students built this car across three semesters. Osborne funded the project in addition to donations collected from the community.
Osborne said the inspiration behind the theme of the car was the TV show, “The Munsters.” He wanted to make his own. After showing the students a picture of the car used on the TV show, he said the students loved it and were excited to get started.
The car was built from scratch, utilizing all the school’s tech programs. It features 3D printed items across the car and the work of Osborne’s past students and KDHS graduates.
Osborne and his students previously created a monster truck from a Mercedes Benz and converted a gas-powered pickup to electric.
Osborne said he put in nearly $10,000 for the project and received another $10,000 worth of work and donations from the community. Dragula won two awards in March at Detroit’s Autorama: the high school division and the special motorized division for hand-built cars. In order to earn the special motorized division, Dragula went up against shops, hobbyists, and professionals alike. Osbourne added KDHS was the first Canadian High School to win those honours. The Dragula 2.0, was recently appraised at being valued between $75,000 and $100,000.
Now that KDHS’s auto show has been completed, Osborne said he plans on showcasing Dragula at other various car shows at which he has been invited to participate. This will allow him to continued to display the car and demonstrate the capabilities of tech students.
This project, he added, would not have been possible without the dedication of the students and the generous support of the community. In his class and throughout the show, Osborne preached the importance of giving back to the community and helping those in need.
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