It is easy to take life for granted, despite most of us being employed, healthy, and living in the best damn country on the planet. But there are those young car enthusiasts who have not yet experienced the thrill of a burnout, or of hearing an engine you built roar to life for the first time. Instead they are busy fighting terrible diseases like Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
But there are good people and organizations out there that strive to remind us how fragile and amazing life can be, and they do wonderful things for sick children, like Matthew Wood. Hemmings Auto Blog reports that the Minnesota Make-A-Wish Foundation and a local dealership teamed up to restore Matthew’s ‘68 Dodge Charger. Now that’s a wish we can really get behind.
Matthew, his father, and brother saved the Charger, a 318/automatic, from a restorer who was apparently ready to scrap the car for parts. From the looks of it, the Charger is in surprisingly good condition, albeit in need of a lot of finish. Matthew has had the car for a decade, but the 16-year old has been fighting lymphoma for much of his life, leaving little time for working on his charger.
But Make-A-Wish approached Morries Automotive Group about restoring Matthew’s Charger. The group of restoration experts at Morries, headed by General Managed John Artez, has approached the project with gusto. Plans include a built 440 V8 engine, and the project should be finished by the end of the month, giving Matthew as much time with the car as possible. This is one of those heart-warming stories that really makes you believe in humanity once again.
You can follow the progress of the Charger restoration on Morries website.