As the seniors at our school presented their Senior Projects, staff and students alike were presented with a plethora of engaging presentations. One of the coolest presentations in this bunch, however, had to be Aidan Dorgan’s. Taking a bruised up automobile and using it as a base to create a unique and stylish new ride all on his own! I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dorgan on the making of this project, and without further ado, you can view it yourself below!

Let me start by asking you: What was your inspiration to pick this topic?

I have always been interested in working on cars since I was a kid. I was always doing things with my dad like changing oil and tires, along with driving cool cars!

What was the goal of your project and about how long did the whole process actually take?

So for my senior project, my goal was to restore a 1970 Boss 302 Mustang, but as hard as I was working, that didn’t end up getting finished. What I did instead was, for the driving portion of the project, I used a 1968 Mustang GT 500 that I helped my grandpa work on previously. Since the two are similar cars, they would both probably take the same amount of time. The completed one took about a year and a half.

How did the end result compare to what you anticipated?

Well, I always knew for my senior project that I wanted to build a car from scratch. The result I got now was the result I anticipated. The thing that changed the most was my essential question and thesis. Building a car was easy, but doing a project on it? Not so much. I had to change my essential question several times in order to develop a good argumentative base!

How did meeting the criteria of the senior project complicate the process of your project and what you intended to do?

While the senior project criteria gave me a general direction of what I had to do for the project, I couldn’t just build a car and say what I wanted about it. It made me have to form an argument about my topic, which is again why I had to change my essential question and thesis so much. Eventually, I was able to come up with the essential question: Would a resto mod become a good daily driver?

Overall, how do you reflect on the entirety of the senior project? Did it positively impact you in any way?

My senior project had its ups and downs, but overall it went swimmingly. With all the obstacles I had to overcome along the way, the project still came out awesome! (Evidently, y’all are writing an article about me!) This project very positively impacted me because it tied together my passion, career plan, and high school work into one project. Just like the banner says on the bridge: “I came. I saw. I conquered!”

Last question, now that the car is fully built; what do you plan to use it for moving onward?

I plan on enjoying it at car shows and just taking rides during the summer. Also, I’d like to think it’s a cool way to show new high schoolers what senior project is all about!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. Thank you so much for answering my questions!

No problem!

Beyond High School, Aidan Dorgan plans to attend Merrimack College to pursue Mechanical Engineering. Let’s all wish him the best of luck that he can carry his experiences from this school and the senior project with him!