THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9406160179
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940617 LENGTH: Long
Both in imagination and skill.
{REST} Their special project this year at the city's Career Development Center was building an elongated limousine, the kind that comes with a liveried chauffeur, built-in bar, leather upholstery, tinted windows and stereo unit.
And that's exactly what they did, completing all but a few details on the sleek, white Cadillac stretch-limo by early June.
The end product, after nine months of cutting, welding, tinkering, grinding, buffing and painting, comes with vinyl top and shall be known by its personalized license plate, ``HORSE I.''
The handle is part of the nom de guerre of instructor Henry Robinson, who not long ago wrestled professionally as ``The Iron Horse.''
And - if Robinson can meet all the state requirements and pay all the right fees - it shall become the first in a stable of limousines for hire in Virginia Beach.
Successors or additions to the fleet shall be known henceforth as HORSE II, HORSE III and so on.
Robinson, standing at a burly, 6-foot-2 with flowing blond mustache and hair, commands instant respect from a group of teenage free-thinkers from every area of the city.
And well he should, for he can show them how to smooth the wrinkles out of a car body, or he can show them how to put a headlock on an opponent, body slam him and finish him off with a flying elbow drop.
A year or two ago, you could find Robinson in an arena or school in Richmond, Suffolk, Colonial Beach or the CPO Club in Norfolk grappling with the likes of Nikita Koloff or the Italian Stallion, two big names in the pro ``rasslin'' circuit at the time.
Before joining the Career Development Center faculty in 1989 as a night-class instructor, Robinson, who is pushing 40, spent his first 20 years out of First Colonial High School working as a body shop mechanic in independent businesses and car dealerships throughout Hampton Roads.
After becoming a full-time teacher in 1990, he began teaching his students the skills he learned along the way. Together they restored donated or junked cars, motorcycles and even boats to renewed life.
In the process, a good many of his charges found high school graduation diplomas in their hands and some went on to jobs that put their newfound skills to use.
The fact that a certain number will move into productive lives elicits from Robinson and his boss, CDC principal Michael Samuel, a great deal of pride.
Robinson can relate to his students, for he he was one of them 20 years earlier. ``I was hard core,'' he says now ruefully. ``We deal with a lot of different kids, special ed and everything else. We have a lot of hard core students and we get a lot of good ones, too.''
Of his job and his students, Robinson has this to say: ``We've got a good program, good kids and we put out a good product. On graduation night is when you really see that all the hassle you have with them is worth it.
``This year we managed to get three kids out and working, an improvement over last year.''
Among the working graduates, said Robinson, are Bryan Hines, 19, and Steve Miller Jr., 20, who helped produce the limo.
It's all part of the Career Development Center mission, says Samuel, 45, who came to the Virginia Beach school system this year after a six-year stint in the Virgin Islands and lengthy service as a school administrator in his native New York City before that.
Robinson is one of 65 faculty members at CDC, which this year handled 602 students from all over the city. The school, on Witchduck Road, offers daily instruction in auto body and engine repair and building trades like carpentry, plumbing and welding as well as academics.
Earlier this year CDC students helped build a Foundation House, a community-driven project that resulted in the construction of a home for a needy family, said Samuel.
The idea for creating a stretch limo actually began germinating two years ago.
``I wanted to come up with some novelty, like taking a car and stretching it out,'' said Robinson. ``I thought first about a Volkswagen, then a Chevette. Then I thought about a real car like a Lincoln or a Cadillac.''
It took a year of prowling around used car lots and junk yards before Robinson found what he wanted - a 1978 Cadillac sedan with standard 425 cubic-inch engine. It cost him $600.
A donated 1980 model Cadillac filled out the rest of his wish list. The vehicle was to be cannibalized to help create the stretch limo.
Beginning in September, Robinson's students began chopping up the '80 Cadillac, then sliced the '78 model in half with a cutting torch. They joined the front and rear sections of the older model to the center section of the junked car to lengthen it, putting a 45-inch stretch in the limo.
Next came things like installing a special-order drive shaft, extending and connecting wiring and fuel, oil and hydraulic lines. Then came fashioning and adjusting doors and windows, making a divider and privacy window, grinding, priming and painting the exterior finish and installing upholstered seats and carpeting.
Finishing touches were added, such as the bar and ice cabinet, the vinyl roof and, finally, the air conditioning.
It was a proud moment for Robinson and his students when the finished product was rolled out the shop entrance onto the asphalt apron outside.
Next year the class may try another stretch limo, said Robinson.
Or they may move on to something else challenging, like rebuilding a motorcycle, customizing a car, refashioning a boat.
by CNB