Some dads like to build soap box derby cars with their sons. But Sterling Backus and his eleven-year-old son Xander had something more ambitious in mind: a full-scale Lamborghini Aventador.

Xander says he got the idea from driving the car in an Xbox racing game. Backus is a physicist with extensive experience using 3-D printers. He is building the Italian supercar with 3D-printed parts made from specs from a replica toy. Backus said, “These were all individually printed and then glued together.” The Backus clan has been at it for nearly two years, with Xander’s sisters helping to pitch in. The process includes not only printing the pieces, but wrapping them in carbon fiber and coating them with epoxy.

An Aventador SVJ typically costs about $600,000. Their homegrown replica is likely to top out at $20,000, less than the cost of a brand-new full-size sedan. All it will need is a VIN to be street legal.

Backus expects to turn heads at the school drop-off line. But his real motivation is not jealousy, but inspiration--to spark more kids’ interest in math, science, and engineering. Xander said, “You may hate math or … science … and you may not like art, but it all comes together with this one project.”

Potential Preaching Angles: Just as Jesus participated with the Father during the holy act of creation, so we have a chance to participate with God in his activity throughout the world.