Hoods were popped as enthusiasts checked the engines of old-time Plymouths and Chevys parked on the grass. They paged through a 1967 Plymouth service manual.

Down the row, students gawked at displayed Lotus, Porsche, Lamborghinis.

On the road was junior Jaxson Sanderson, who stood by his blue Plymouth race car parked next to his dad’s bright orange car.

“I’m in both the auto body and mechanics classes,” he said. “I thought it would be cool to bring my racecar and my dad’s racecar to teach kids about drag racing. There’s not a whole lot of drag cars here so it gives them a chance to see them up close.”

It was Bingham High’s 28th auto show, which featured about 75 vehicles. Students, wearing T-shirts in support of the event, were excused from class one of the last days of the year for the tradition, complete with grilled hot dogs and soft drinks.

“There’s a ton of things I’ve learned in class, but I knew a little bit about painting. I’m considering this to be a career for me,” Sanderson said.

He bought his car last fall to drag race, having “pretty much” grown up at the track.

“I’ve been around it my whole life. I like the speed, I’m an alright driver, but I can be better. We used to have a drag strip, Rocky Mountain raceways, but they shut that down. Now we have to travel to race in Las Vegas or Boise,” he said.

Sanderson was one of more than 50 students who displayed their cars at the show. He stood near the vehicles displayed by his teacher, Travis Lucero.

“I helped work on the struts and some other stuff,” he said about the bright green 1950 Chevy roadster. “He has done everything to that — pretty much custom built, painted it, modified it.”

Lucero said rebuilding the yet-to-be-named truck wasn’t him alone.

“It went from rusty parts to this beauty over the span of a decade, with numerous students helping along the way and countless hours of mine after hours and on the weekends,” said the 18-year teaching veteran. “We were able to pull it together. It’s not just me; there’s tons of student work in it. The whole wood bed was built in the woods department. All these metal strips were cut out in my welding program and then sent off to be chromed. The whole dash is student work.”

Many of the cars were rebuilt by students, and not just their own.

“The Nova was rebuilt, along with that Thunderbird and those three in the corner,” Lucero said, pointing to those directly around him. “There are a lot of the cars students can afford; a lot of the tuners (cars adjusted to go fast) and imports tend to be student’s cars. Some students do drive classics, but these here take a lot of time and a lot of money.”

The 1956 salmon red Thunderbird on display belongs to his mother, Karen, who proudly wore a Bingham High car show shirt.

“It was a gift from my husband for our 11th anniversary,” she said. “We knew about the car and then the owner, a woman who lived in Los Angeles, called and she said, ‘Do you want to buy it? I’ll sell it to you.’ We had no money. We were broke and we had kids. My husband worked as a plumber pipefitter, and he took the pictures she sent us of the car to the credit union — and they gave us a loan. We flew there and drove it back to Utah.”

Her son, Travis Lucero, was only 11 months old at the time.

“Once the kids were on their own, we were able to start putting some money into it to get it fixed up,” Karen Lucero said. “We changed the color from black to the salmon kind of red they had in 1956 and that matches the upholstery. Travis is the one who helped restore it and my husband’s been helping him. He’s here about three times a week. The students have helped, putting in a lot of hours.”

The Thunderbird won first place in the (Sandy’s) Autorama three years ago when it was a convertible. 

“Then, we decided to do the top so worked on the top to make it a complete car,” she said. “It won first place in this category and when it was announced they wanted to give a special award to Bingham High School’s Travis Lucero, he went white. I thought he was going to faint.”

As a proud mother, Karen Lucero has appreciated what that meant, as well as being named one of Jordan School District’s top teachers of the year for 2024.

“We encouraged him to take this job; he wasn’t sure it was the right fit for him. He loves it and we’re proud of what he’s been able to do for so many students,” she said. “This event is a community favorite.”

Lucero said this year’s car show is twice as big as recent years. Next year, with the show extending another hour, it may be larger yet.

“It is the pinnacle of all of our hard work for the year,” he said. “It’s just a chance for everyone to take a deep breath and have some fun.”  λ