A 15-year-old boy built a DIY car for $3,000 out of scrap metal and named it after himself
- A teen from Ghana built his own DIY car
- He used scrap metal and salvaged parts
- It cost him $3,000
Published on Apr 18, 2025 at 5:36 AM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Mar 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A now-19-year-old teen from Accra, Ghana, built his own DIY car from scrap metal and salvaged parts for $3,000.
The inventor, Kelvin Odartei Cruickshank, developed a love for building vehicles at a young age.
He started with remote-control prototypes at the age of just seven years old.
Over the years he gained confidence and skills and started working on his automobile project at the age of 15.
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The DIY car this teen built from scrap metal
Among other hurdles, one of the biggest issues Cruickshank faced building his ‘Kelvin Mobile‘ was skepticism from those who doubted his abilities.
These doubts were largely put down to the talented teen’s age and background.
“Many people first believed I was crazy when I began the project. They said that it was absurd that a little Ghanaian boy could build a car, as ‘Cruickshank’,” he said.
Including its 300HP engine, the materials from junkyards and scrap came to a total of just under $3,000.
In order to raise funds for parts, Cruickshank worked various jobs, including street hawking.
“The frame, the chassis, and the engine seat were the hardest aspects of the automobile [to create],” Cruickshank said.
He fashioned them from round and square pipes and iron rods.
His fame and future plans
His DIY achievement gained both local and wider recognition, with people congratulating him on the streets and comparing him to giants of the automotive world.
Cruickshank aims to inspire other young people, especially those from low-income backgrounds, to pursue their passions despite the challenges they face.
His next steps involve building a more advanced vehicle and creating a garage for working on new projects and training others.
Through an Airfunding campaign, he has raised $1,193 of his $2,000 goal to support his future projects and share his knowledge with others via his YouTube channel, Kelvincars_Gh.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
