Local Students Build Car That Runs On Used Oil From Philadelphia Eatery
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - One of the cars on display at the Philadelphia Auto Show is built by local school students -- and it runs on used fryer oil from a local restaurant.
"We get our vegetable oil from Federal Donuts. And we convert it to biodiesel," says auto tech teacher Andre Brooks, whose students at West Philadelphia's Workshop School built the car.
The roadster, painted General Motors Ocean Blue, is an alternative-energy car.
"This is going to be the only car there this color, and the only car that's going to be able to say that a bunch of kids did it," says teacher Mike Lumb.
Lumb says it literally comes in almost 500 different boxes, "and we have to put the whole body together."
"We have a track record of building cool cars that are earth-friendly," adds principal Simon Hauger.
Hauger says the car will compete in April's Green Grand Prix:
"We're expecting about 98 miles per gallon on this vehicle."
Senior Joshua Pigford got to meet President Obama last summer when Workshop students were invited to the White House.
"He wanted to drive it," Pigford says. "He really liked it, but the Secret Service wouldn't let him drive the car."
The Workshop team will compete against college and private teams.