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American Morning

100 of Nation's Top Teen Auto Mechanics Converge on Mall in Washington

Aired June 17, 2002 - 09:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot of broken down cars in Washington D.C. today. They match up well with the broken down politicians that inhabit that same neighborhood. But unlike the politicians, there are a lot of young mechanics on hand that are able to fix the cars. One hundred of the nation's top teen auto mechanics have converged on the Mall in Washington for the 2002 Ford AAA Auto Skills Competition.

Kathleen Koch is there to get our motors running this morning.

Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jack. Well, you know, I feel very much like a fish out of water here. Those who don't know a carburetor from a catalytic converter, we feel very out of place. These teens are the best of the best from all around the country. And what they're doing is they're trying to debug 50 Ford Mustangs.

Now, identical faults and identical defaults have been programmed into each of these cars. The students don't know how many defects. They don't know what they are, and this competition has been going on since 1949, and it has a first this year, right here, the team from California, these are twins, Joshua and Jason Campenard (ph). We talked to them earlier about their winning strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the inside person, so I fix anything that's inside, and I deal with lights. He's the engine person, so he does everything under the hood, makes sure the engine's running good, make sure you can drive it away basically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now this is not all-male competition, Jack, by any stretch of the imagination. We have two young women competing this year. One of them from New Mexico we spoke to earlier. She says she has always loved to play with cars, and she feels very comfortable here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel outnumbered. I feel fine around all these other people, being in and around a man's competition -- well, it's not really a man's competition; it's a person's competition, and it's never really bothered me being outnumbered by any boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now the trick isn't just to finish first here, you have to get across the finish line first, but with a perfect car. You have to find and fix every one of these defects, and the students are competing for $8 million in scholarships and prizes. And the idea of the competition is not just to reward these teens for their skills, but also to point out the fact that we have shortage in auto technicians; don't call them mechanics. You have to be very skilled to take care of cars today. And they're saying that they are hoping this will encourage more students to pursue this field, Jack. The best of the best can make six figures as an auto technician.

Jack, back to you.

CAFFERTY: And it's probably worth noting that cars increasingly contain a lot of computer chips and very high-tech equipment, and it's a perfect match for the young people who also seem to be the ones who are most computer literate and at home working with high technology, at least in my house.

KOCH: Quite so, even a little more literate than us.

CAFFERTY: A lot more literate than me. Kathleen, nice to see you. Thank you very much. Kathleen Koch in Washington, thanks.

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