A lot of high school students dream of having their favorite car when they leave high school, but most of them do not know how to fix or maintain a vehicle. Some students are helpless if they ever run into an issue. That’s not the case for Carson Levey, however. He is more skilled under the hood than most adults.
Levey’s love of cars started long before he got to high school. His older brother, Josh, spent time playing video games and toy cars with him.
“I noticed him [loving cars] at a young age when he started getting hot wheels and he would look at cars the same way I do,” Josh Levey said.
He would eventually start helping Josh with his car projects at home.
“We’d also play video games (like Forza Horizon) together and just kind of see who can make the better car, [. . .] just getting to change around what a car looks like and how a car feels in the video game,” Josh Levey said.
Later, he would pursue that love for cars that he found with his older brother through the various programs Maize High School offers, putting in time with Wichita State’s Automotive Tech course.
“So right now, I go three days a week, and each day is about three hours,” Levey said. “We usually do some computer work, learning about the systems and stuff, and then we actually get to do some hands-on. I get a good amount of time per week learning about it.”
Through his own personal experience, he has gained from his classes, he has come to learn the difference between what’s reliable and what’s not, and what makes high-end parts sometimes worse than low-end parts, and he has a different opinion from his older brother, who prefers to work on Chevy and GM products.
“Ford is definitely a big one that’s known for going bad,” Levey said. “A good reason to be a mechanic for Ford is because there’s always something to work on. I love [. . .] to figure out what I can do to make a car work better. Reputation-wise, Ford is definitely the big thing that people say is unreliable.”
Even though he spends his time immersed in average cars like Toyotas and Hyundais, he still has time to think about his favorite car.
“Porsche 911 GT3 RS, shark blue specifically,” Levey said. “I love that color, no other color. I love the sound of the Porsches, specifically the 911, and it’s just known to be a very pretty car.”
