2025 North Carolina Region Antique Automobile Club of American’s Annual Scholarship Awarded! Written by Charlotte Tyson
The NC Region’s Scholarship Award was created to assist students in the purchasing of tools, uniforms, or necessary equipment needed when entering an automotive or mechanical program after graduating from high school.
The President of the Morehead City Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club, Scott Gruenke, was thrilled to present this award at the East Carteret High School Class of 2025 Scholarship Ceremony, May 27th. The award was presented to Hayden Lewis, the grandson of one of the Chapter’s long standing members and Treasurer, Carl Tilghman. Hayden plans to use this award as he begins an Automotive/Mechanical program in the fall at Craven Community College.
Hayden comes from a family of antique car lovers. His father, his grandfather and his great grandfathers all loved cars and have owned several antique ones over the years. Hayden’s interest in cars started when, in late 2022, he and his father, Rodney, began discussing what type and color of car Hayden might eventually like to get. Those conversations ended with Hayden becoming the proud owner of a “primer” colored AMC Javelin, titled as a 1969 but with some 1970 body parts. The car was dropped off in July of 2023 and Hayden’s automotive journey began.
It took the first few months to simply get the car to actually move under it’s own power. It’s first trial run on a back road was a trying experience with a back tire wobble that required the purchase of a new wheel. The car made it’s first major debut when Hayden showed it to his friends at Halloween. It’s primer color with green headlights made it the perfect Halloween ride.
Sadly Hayden’s father passed away before the Javelin was truly road ready but it’s first highway trip occurred in February of 2024 when Hayden drove to the cemetery to visit his father’s grave. After this first road trip Hayden continued to work on the car and used it to drive to his prom and to his summer job. The car continues to be a work in progress and has become somewhat of a “Frankencar” since it currently has a Ford engine, a Lincoln Transmission, a Chevy horn, a Pontiac brake switch and something from a Buick. His ultimate goal for the Javelin is for it to become a 70’s “Mean Sounding Street Freak”.
His experience with the Javelin has offered Hayden an excellent opportunity to learn and get a lot of experience repairing and restoring an older vehicle. He has already begun adding to his collection with the acquisition of a white 1976 Ford F100 Pick Up Truck and a 1979 AMC Jeep J10 a lesser known pick up truck. He says one of the main barriers to young people such as himself becoming more involved with antique car maintenance and restoration is the cost to purchase and maintenance expense.
Hayden’s plan is to continue his education and continue buying and working on old cars. He said the best advice he can give to people that love and want to own older cars is “be sure to have a reliable tow company on speed dial”.
