The 16-year-old who was seriously injured in a collision with a semi-truck in August is still a long way from getting back behind the wheel.
But, when Obie Nef is ready, he has a vintage red Pontiac Firebird waiting for him – thanks to his friends, neighbors and the local community.
The Canyon View High School student was driving northbound with his father, Obie Nef, when he attempted to enter Interstate 15 from an access road ahead of a semi-truck heading southbound on Aug. 22. He turned in front of the semi, leaving it with no time to stop to avoid colliding with the passenger car. The cab of the truck ran over the vehicle.
Obie Nef was transported by Life Flight Helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital with a long list of critical injuries, including bleeding and swelling of the brain, a broken collarbone and multiple broken ribs. He also sustained facial and pelvis fractures. While his father’s injuries were less severe, Darwin Nef did experience a hematoma in the brain and multiple broken bones.
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Immediately after the crash, many of Obie Nef’s neighbors and classmates stepped out to raise money to help cover medical expenses. Both Canyon View and Cedar High School’s raised thousands of dollars to assist with medical expenses through bake sales, drive-in movies and collecting donations at the CV-Cedar football game.
Eventually, the question was asked about what he would drive once he was out of this hospital, according to Obie Nef’s Boy Scout and church youth group leader, Dustin Langston.
“At this point, he was still in a medical induced coma, but we wanted to help,” Langston recounted. “We wanted to give him a safe car that would run without any issues.”
One of the scouts proposed they transform the old, 1987 Pontiac Firebird that had been sitting in the Nef’s backyard for decades for their friend. The old vehicle had been sitting in their backyard since 2000 – before Obie Nef was even born.
Langston, who regularly restores cars in his spare time, was up for the challenge with the help of his scouts all between the ages of 14 to 16, many of whom had grown close to Obie Nef through school and the scouting group.
“All my scout group is into cars, so everyone was on board immediately,” he said. “I did a lot of late nights, but the scouts, my co-scout leaders and other people in the ward were there for so much of it.”
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So, they dragged the vehicle out of the backyard and got to work. The car was completely transformed as original front was replaced with parts from an 1984 TransAm donated by AutoMoto. The back half the original Firebird body stayed. The entire dashboard had to be ripped out to fix electrical issues.
Langtson said the original plan was just to get it running and clean it up a bit before returning it to the Nef family, but the project quickly evolved into something much bigger than anyone expected after word got out. First, a neighbor donated a mini-van to raise money for restoring the Firebird. The vehicle quickly sold for $500 after Langston spent some time cleaning it up, giving them the necessary seed money to fund the overhaul.
Many of the shops Langston usually works with during his restoration projects were eager to help, as well. Rare Form Automotive in Hurricane agreed to paint it for free as long as Langston completed the bodywork. Clear Secure applied new Firebird decals and window tint, while Salt City Metal Coatings powder coated the rims gold and Rolling Rubber donated brand new tires. The donations kept pouring in with A1 glass providing new windows and windshields and a thorough interior cleaning from Thunderbird Carpet Care to freshen up the inside of the 30-year-old car.
Then, there were the special touches that really made it Obie’s car – including custom stitched Firebird sun visors from Bobby’s Upholstery and custom decals along the doors reading “Obie’s Firebird.” The most fitting addition, though, is a specialized license plate holder bearing the words, “MIRACLES HAPPEN.”
“People I haven’t ever worked with came out of their way to be a part of this,” Langston said. “It was really amazing to see.”
Langston estimates the cost of the restoration process has likely exceeded $9,000, with all of the money coming from donations. It’s taken more than 300 man hours to turn the forgotten vehicle into an enviable vintage car.
While Obie Nef’s mother, Nelda, knew about the car, both father and son were kept completely in the dark. Langston had clued her in once donations started rolling in as he wanted to make sure the project had a mother’s blessing first.
She never realized just how much work they had done for her son.
“I thought they would just get it running, but I had no idea about the peoplon’e who donated their service and time,” Nelda Neff said.
Eventually, it became too hard to keep it a secret. On Wednesday night, the Nef family went to Langston’s house in Enoch under the guise of a scout project. Neither Obie or Darwin Nef had any idea what would greet them when they walked into Langston’s home shop.
Obie Nef was shocked to see the car there, but he immediately recognized it as the car that had been sitting in their backyard for years.
“There were lots of smiles,” Langston said. “I think he was very happy and excited.”
Despite the accident, Nelda Nef isn’t too worried about the thought of her son eventually getting back on the road. He still has to undergo more speech, physical and occupational therapies before the doctors give the go-ahead for the teenager to get his license. More than anything, she’s looking forward to seeing him return to a normal life.
“He’s going to be a responsible driver and he’ll handle it,” she said. “They don’t remember what happened, but I know Obie is worried about if it is his fault. I just try and tell him accidents happen and I don’t know all the circumstances.”
The Firebird isn’t completely done yet, though. There’s still a bit of interior work that needs to be finished. Obie Nef himself will actually help with this final stage.
“We wanted Obie to help and have it really be his car,” Langston explained.
When he’s ready, Obie Nef will have his Firebird ready for him – after Langston teaches him to drive stick, of course.
The cost of the car restoration has been covered through the donations and volunteers. Donations are still needed to assist with the extensive medical, rehabilitation and physical therapy costs for both Obie and Darwin Nef. Donations can be made at Mountain America Credit Union under their names.
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Follow reporter Bree Burkitt, @BreeBurkitt. Call her at 435-218-2241.