Maine Girl Drives Truck She Built to High School Graduation

Once upon a young girl named Cassie, from Oxford County, wanted to do something that not many would picture her doing, I assume. What I say to that is, never underestimate the power of the woman.

Cassie wanted to arrive to her high school graduation, driving a truck. Pretty normal right? Well, the truck she wanted to drive, is also the truck that she was going to build, according to Central Maine

As the article states, her father, Ian and a bunch of support, she was able to build a truck to drive to her high school graduation.

“I always wanted to do this, and I never really thought I would,” Cassie told the Advertiser Democrat, next to her big red accomplishment on oversized tires. “And then I actually said something about it once, and (my parents) were like, ‘okay, let’s starting looking.'”

Central Maine, Cassie

“It was about when she got her license and she didn’t want to have to drive mum and dad’s vehicles anymore,” laughed Cassie’s mother, Morgan Thurlow.

Now, she had to find a truck first so the search was one. Ian was able to discover one for her while she was having a appendectomy, which didn't stop her from still wanted to build her dream truck.

According to the article, Ian found the "project truck" 150 miles away in Orrington.

Cassie did not know that Ian hauled the Volkswagen Passat  she had been driving and traded it for a Chevy. It was old and had a blown motor and a replacement motor in the bed.

By the time she was released from the hospital the truck was waiting for her at home.

Central Maine

Once she was recovered from her surgery, she was ready. The article states that they started with the front of the truck. They took off the grill and pulled the radiator motor and transmission off. They then focused on the motor, well three motors.

According to the article, 

“The engine, the piston let go and went through a cylinder wall, so the block was bad and we had to put a new block in it,” said Ian. “But the block we got with the truck was damaged as well. We ended up going through three motors before we got one.

“And as we tore it apart and started going through it we ran into some rust issues we weren’t expecting. We overcame those, bought parts, fixed it up. Rocker panels, it was all cab rust. Floor pans.”

Cassie also learned to weld because that was needed and she is remarkably awesome. The article says that her dad taught her how to weld.

Family is so important and you can tell that Cassie's parents are very dedicated to her dreams and successes. Her father "guided" her through it all. He has experience and is a commercial trucker by trade but also a self-taught mechanic, according to the article.

The two worked together, night after night building this dream truck.

April 2nd, they got the truck to run and after a few test runs and changes, to really make it road-worthy, they were able to do it.

As the article states, several businesses helped them with this truck project and they even had a sponsorship.

These include, Morse Custom Engines and R/K Automotive in Norway; Nate’s Auto in South Paris; and A&D Auto Repair and NAPA in Oxford.

The article states that the project cost them about $8,000 and on June 11th Cassie drove herself to her high school graduation in the truck that she built with her dad.

She not only built a truck, they built memories to last a lifetime.