4-Her restoring 1960 Chevy Apache for Lorain County Fair

WELLINGTON — This girl is a gearhead, and she's got a 1960 Chevy Apache pickup restoration project to prove it. Carrie Hamm, 15, of Grafton, is a member of the Next Generation 4-H club and has spent the past two years rebuilding the truck of her dreams. "My dad always had cars, my grandpa, everyone in my family," the Midview High School sophomore said. "My brother has had his car since he was 4, so when I was 12, I asked my dad, 'Where's my car?'" Ken Hamm took his daughter to a couple of car shows and told her to find what she liked. What she found was a 1970 pickup truck, but then she came across the 1960 Chevy Apache pickup. "I really liked the look of the hood," she said. "Within about two weeks of asking, I had the truck at home." Granted, it wasn't exactly a truck at that time. It was more like pieces and parts of what was once a truck. "We found one on Facebook in Polk, Ohio," Hamm said. "It had no engine, no transmission, no windshield. We brought it home partially disassembled on a trailer in October 2022." Since that time, Carrie, with guidance from her dad and grandpa, Jim Hamm, slowly began the process of reassembling the vehicle, which made its first appearance at the Lorain County Fair last year with just the frame, motor, transmission, suspension and tires. "How many 15½ year old daughters want to do anything with their dad," Ken Hamm asked. "We get to spend time together and she is building skills. She's been welding since she was 10 years old. Changing oil, taking tires off — these are skills she will use. There is a real value in 4-H." With a lot more work, including moving the gas tank, installing a fuel system, turning the dashboard and adding aftermarket gauges, putting on the cab and bed, installing the engine wiring harness, the steering column and custom wheels, the project earned Carrie an Outstanding rating this year. "Because it's an older truck and it was preowned, there are definitely issues with it," Carrie said. "Every time you go to do something, you realize something else is wrong with it that takes hours to fix and that adds time. It really messes with your time line, especially when you're dealing with deadlines for the fair." Not to mention Carrie's already busy schedule. In addition to the Apache, she showed her pig, Golden Corral, at the fair this year. She also plays travel volleyball, runs track and plans to pick up tennis. She plans to continue working on the truck with her dad and entering it in the fair again next year. "We should have it out next year and completely running," she said. "We've probably spent hundreds of hours on it by now. It's been really good for our relationship, especially how so much of what we do is so focused. We've really bonded. We will be out in the barn listening to two Johnny Cash CDs that my dad has. That's all we listen to and it's what I want to listen to. It's a connection I have with my dad now." When the truck is finally operational, she plans to make her first trip a memorable one. "I'm going to get ice cream with my dad," she said. Carrie, who is the daughter of Ken and Jessica Hamm, may become a welder after she graduates, or a lawyer. Contact Christina Jolliffe at ctnews@chroniclet.com.