Teen's wish is for a replica '51 Ford pickup

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 1951 Ford pickup truck spent 20 years standing in a field in Dansville, sinking into the ground up to its frame. When Justin Lilly was about 13, he started pestering his dad about it. The truck had been in the family a long time _ Doug Lilly's dad bought it in 1975; Doug and his wife, Shawn, used it for dates decades before their youngest son took an interest in it. Eventually, Doug Lilly agreed to haul the old truck over to his father-in-law's barn in Pleasant Lake so Justin and his grandpa could work on it.

The truck was in woeful shape, and 1951 Ford truck parts are hard to come by. Progress was slow _ until Justin made a wish.

Because of a condition called bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Justin's lungs never fully developed. While most people use about 75 percent of their lung capacity, Justin, now 18, has _ at best _ 30 percent lung capacity.

When he was 16, his doctor referred him to another specialist, anticipating a lung transplant. Instead of getting Justin on a transplant list right away, the new doctor suggested physical therapy to strengthen Justin's lungs. An administrator at the hospital where Justin was doing his therapy remembered him from when he was a little boy and told the family that Justin was eligible for a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan. Eventually, Make-A-Wish agreed to grant a wish for Justin. After some thought, he asked ask to have the truck painted. He wasn't looking for anything fancy; he just knew he couldn't do it himself because of the chemicals involved in the process.

In December 2005, the Lillys, who live near Jackson, received a call from Make-A-Wish. The automotive services department at Washtenaw Community College was interested in working on the truck _ and not just painting it. A crew from the college picked the truck up in February for an extreme makeover.

"It looks like it's been sitting in a junkyard or a farmer's field for about 100 years," said college instructor and adviser Gary Sobbry in April. "We're basically going to build the baddest '51 Ford truck that's ever roamed the streets."

In the end, Sobbry's students used just two parts from the Lillys' truck _ the front grille and the metal piece between the fenders and hood. The rest is a testament to what can happen when creativity and generosity collide.

With $5,500 from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, $5,000 from Haggerty Insurance Agency, a handful of private donations and lots of donated parts, time and expertise the students at the college will turn out a tricked-out replica '51 Ford truck worth about $100,000. It should be finished in time for the 2007 Detroit Autorama March 9-11.

Ford Motor Co. donated a $40,000 drivetrain that includes a 4.6-litre, 608-horsepower prototype racing engine. Justin got to go to Ford's prototype shop and help put the engine together.

When Doug Lilly asked if they were going to give Justin driving lessons, too, he was only half joking. The truck weighs about as much as a Chevrolet Cavalier, with an engine akin to what's under the hood of a new Mustang GT.

"It's going to make that truck crazy," Sobbry says. "We're going to have to de-tune it a little just so Justin's mom doesn't kill us."

Copyright 2006 Associated Press.