10-year-old entrepreneur buys her 1955 dream car
Ashlin Albright named her car "Ethel" after the character from "I Love Lucy."
— -- One 10-year-old budding entrepreneur was able to purchase the ride she's always dreamed of: a 1955 Chevy Bel Air.
Ashlin Albright of Seagrove, North Carolina, has been making and selling crafts with her father for about a year now. With the help of her parents, she was able to buy a 1955 Chevy Bel Air after her craft business, "Tri 5 Girl," took off.
"She's took it and made it her own and she's just astonished me in what she's accomplished," dad Mark Albright told ABC News. "Not only with her ability, but to have the mindset of owning a money-operating business, handling the public, to make connections and make sales. I'm over-the-top proud of her. I am proud of both of my kids."
Aslin's mother, Nina Albright, described her daughter as "an old soul" who loves the 1950s era.
Two years ago, Ashlin took a liking to the '55 Chevy Bel Air after researching old cars to pose with for her 1950s-themed birthday party invitation.
"The more she looked at cars online, the more she fell in love with the Bel Air," Nina said. "She said, 'Maybe I can drive that when I'm 16.' It started progressing, she wanted to save and got upset because she was only 9. I said, 'Maybe you can make things and sell them.' I thought it was going to take years and years for her to accomplish this goal and it didn't."
Together, Ashlin and her dad transform old barn wood and sheet metal into home and garden decor. She sands, paints and assists in the welding process to make inspirational signs, wooden stars, snowmen made from horseshoes and clocks made from car pistons. Ashlin sells her creations through her Facebook page and at local craft fairs. She's even made donations to breast cancer awareness and other causes, her mother said.
"She's a really big daddy's girl and she kind of picked up on it really easy," Mark said, adding that she hit over $300 in sales in January alone.
On Aug. 12, 2016, Ashlin, her mom and her dad, purchased a sea mist green four-door '55 Chevy for an undisclosed price. Now, Ashlin is selling more of her crafts in hopes to raise money for refurbishing her new car. Since she's too young to drive, the car's title is in her parents' name.
"She claims it's what she's going to drive everyday, so we'll see," Nina said. "The only thing she wants to change in the car is to put a CD player in it so she can listen to The Beach Boys and to have an air conditioner in it."
James "Peanut" Robinson, the original owner of the Chevy, told ABC News that he had quite a few people interested in the vehicle, but decided Ashlin should be the owner after meeting her.
"I wanted her to have it more than anybody," said Robinson, 66, of Wadesboro, North Carolina. "She warmed my heart when she looked at it."
Ashlin, who named her car "Ethel" after the fictional character Ethel Mertz from "I Love Lucy," told ABC News that she can't wait until she gets her license so she can "drive her family around."