The Girl in the Garage: How Sydney Sweeney Swapped the Script for a Spanner
In the glitzy, high-definition world of Hollywood, we often think we know every side of our favorite stars. We see the red carpet gowns, the emotional monologues, and the carefully curated social media feeds. But lately, Sydney Sweeney—the Emmy-nominated star of Euphoria and The White Lotus—has been breaking that mold, one bolt at a time.
While she’s spent the last few years dominating our screens, Sweeney has quietly been leading a double life. When the cameras stop rolling, the designer heels come off, and the grease-stained overalls go on. Sydney Sweeney isn’t just a fan of vintage cars; she is a restomodder.
More Than Just a “Car Girl”
The fascination began in early 2021 when a TikTok account under the unassuming handle @syds_garage started gaining traction. Fans were stunned to find the actress under the chassis of a 1969 Ford Bronco, wielding a wire brush to scrub away decades of rust.
This wasn’t a paid partnership or a hollow PR stunt. Sweeney spent her quarantine diving headfirst into the mechanical guts of her dream vehicle. From swapping out a manual transmission for an automatic to modernize its driveability, to converting front and rear drum brakes into a safer disc system, she did the heavy lifting herself.
“Anyone can go buy a brand-new car,” Sweeney told Cosmopolitan. “But I wanted to build one so that when I drove it and people said ‘cool car,’ I could be like ‘yeah, thanks’ and know I made it.”
The “Secret” That Has Everyone Talking
But the detail that has recently set the internet ablaze isn’t just that she restores cars—it’s how she got her start. While many assumed this was a sudden “quarantine hobby,” the roots of her mechanical obsession go back to a childhood that sounds more like a movie script than reality. Sweeney revealed that she grew up in a family of mechanics in the Pacific Northwest, but the real spark came from a unique source: her babysitters.
In several interviews, including a sit-down with Harper’s Bazaar, Sweeney shared that the twin sisters who watched her as a child weren’t just ordinary sitters—they were competitive race car drivers. “I’d go to the track a lot, and I thought I was going to be a race car driver when I grew up,” she recalled. This early exposure to the smell of gasoline and the roar of engines planted a seed that Hollywood couldn’t erase. For years, she didn’t have the space or the means to pursue it, but as soon as her career took off, she didn’t buy a Ferrari—she bought a rusted-out Bronco and begged a family friend for a corner in his shop to work on it.
The Craftsmanship of Patience
Watching Sweeney work on “The New Throwback” (as her Bronco is nicknamed) highlights a side of her personality that fans find deeply relatable: patience. Restoring a 50-year-old vehicle is a lesson in frustration. She’s spoken openly about the “bruises, stained hands, a broken finger, and bolts that wouldn’t budge.” To complete the project, she even partnered with eBay Motors to hunt down a specific, rare transmission adapter that was nearly impossible to find.
For Sweeney, the garage is a sanctuary. In an industry where “success” is often subjective and dependent on the opinions of critics, mechanical work offers something tangible. You either fixed the engine, or you didn’t. There is a definitive “win” at the end of a long day of welding and wrenching.
What’s Next for Syd’s Garage?
The cherry-red Bronco was just the beginning. Sweeney has already moved on to her next project: a 1965 Ford Mustang nicknamed “Britney” (after its original baby blue color). She’s currently documenting the process of rebuilding its engine and adding power steering, proving that her passion for American muscle is here to stay.
In a world of “mechanic-core” fashion and surface-level aesthetics, Sydney Sweeney is the real deal. She’s reminding us that creativity doesn’t have to be limited to one medium. Whether she’s building a character or building a powertrain, she’s doing it with her own two hands—and a bit of grease under her fingernails.
