Meet “Project Next Generation”

From a Track Minded Pro-touring race car, to a resto-mod like no other, Power and Performance News is proud to be partnering with West Bend Dyno Tuning in West Bend, Wisconsin on a project that will be turning heads from a mile away. For the second year in a row West Bend Dyno Tuning will be assisting the students of West Bend High Schools, overseen by Instructor Gerald Sorce, with this year’s project proudly named “Project Next Generation”.

What is the project you may be asking? Unknown to many, but a favorite to those that do, “Project Next Generation” is a 1969 American Motors Corporation- AMX. This car, brought to them by owner Mark Hutchison, had many students confused as to what this odd vehicle was. Most of the students had never seen an AMX, or knew of its rich racing heritage.

The Kenosha, Wisconsin based American Motors Corporation designed the AMX (American Motors eXperimental) to compete in the popular Trans Am racing series against other manufacturer supported teams like Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, and Porsche to name a few. The AMX was the true underdog of the muscle car community. This car, weighing in at about 3000 lbs with the addition of an engine that put out anywhere from 200-340 hp and 284-430 lb-ft of torque. This car had plenty of get up and go! This power to weight ratio would be a powerhouse in the Muscle car community for years to come.

The goal of “Project Next Generation” is to help introduce the next generation of automotive enthusiasts (students) to a different aspect of the car community. Along their journey of rebuilding the car the students will learn priceless life and career skills. Including learning to communicate with industry leading companies, the customer, and each other to completely rebuild this vehicle in less than a school year. Obviously, a project of this magnitude takes countless hours of work both in and out of the classroom. Some of the students have been working beyond their classroom hours during study halls, off hours, after school, and even during their winter break to move this project towards completion.

West Bend High School Automotive and its students would like to thank their sponsors West Bend Dyno Tuning, Wegner Motorsports, QA1 Suspension, Wilwood, and Control Freak Suspensions to name a few. We would also like to thank our many supporters, including Gary Kielisch, who let one of the students bring in his 1969 AMX (GOLD) for the class to use as a reference for the project.

Stay tuned for another update on “Project Next Generation”, including part installs and student interviews on their thoughts of the project. Keep up to date on this and many other cool projects by visiting Power and Performance News and West Bend High School Automotive on Facebook!

Did you follow the previous Teacher’s Pet Project?