Sydney Sweeney is riding high these days, and that's not merely a reference to her high-riding 1969 Ford Bronco. The 24-year-old actor is killing it as Cassie Howard on HBO's popular drama Euphoria, but she still found time in her schedule to wrench on the classic off-roader. She chronicled the restoration on TikTok for the world to see, and when we saw the finished product up-close in New York, we reached out to Sweeney for a chat.
It turns out she very much has a passion for classic cars in general, with a slight nod towards Ford. In addition to the old Bronco, she teases a 1965 Ford Mustang on her TikTok channel syds_garage. But the Ford ties reach back a bit further with her family.
Gallery: Sydney Sweeney With Her 1969 Ford Bronco
"The first car I ever learned how to drive was my great grandfather's 1965 Ford truck. So Ford's been in my family for a long time," she explained. "I'm pretty into classic cars at the moment. I definitely think there are some pretty hot modern-day exotic cars out there, but I'd rather buy vintage."
That led us to ask about future projects, notably a Porsche. An article on Sweeney in Vanity Fair mentioned well-known Porsche restorer Rod Emory, whom Sweeney is friends with. Her Bronco project took place at his shop, and she's hinted that a classic Porsche build could be in her future. Her response to our direct question on that topic was an encouraging "maybe..."
Of course, we'll have to wait and see but that ellipsis gives us a lot of hope.
@syds_garage she’s finally driveable! sending her off to get reupholstered this weekend :) #bronco ♬ Fake - The Tech Thieves
Whatever her next project is, she's keen to take what she learned from her first restoration and keep right on wrenching. Even if it means upsetting her mom with a manual-to-auto swap as she did on the Bronco. After mentioning it in one of her earlier build videos, we asked Sweeney about her Mom's displeasure at the transmission change.
"It's just one of those things that feel sacrilegious to do to a car," Sweeney said. "She drives a stick in Los Angeles so no, she is not going to come around on that!"
It's so rare and refreshing to see any young celebrity getting involved in the restoration corner of the car scene, rather than just hiring the work out. We have mad respect for what she's doing, but also how she's reaching other women who want to restore the classics.
"I truly just did [the videos] to be able to document it for my parents, so it's crazy to see what it's grown into. I see comments from young girls that want to learn now, or are inspired."
As for us, we're standing by for the next project from Syd's Garage.
