DEARBORN -- Most high school students can only dream about getting their hands on a 2005 Mustang.

But students at several high school auto mechanics programs are doing just that.

Thanks to a donation from Auto Alliance in Flat Rock, the Ford-Mazda joint venture which builds the Mustang and the Mazda 6, students at the Downriver Career Technical Consortium, Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn and schools in Taylor and Monroe all are gaining hands-on experience in auto repair using the Mustang.

Auto Alliance donated nine prototypes used at the plant. While identical to production cars, they are not suitable for sale to the public after being used for testing.

Auto Alliance President Philip Spender said the donation was a nice way to keep the school shop programs up to date while extending the useful life of the cars.

"When we did tours at the schools we found the cars and mechanical properties they had were pretty old," he said. "This was something that the students could be excited about as well -- the Mustang is a pretty popular car among young people."

Edsel Ford shop teacher Max Reimer said he's been looking for a new car for the students to work on. The students in his auto shop classes were working on a 1996 Lincoln as their shop car. Dealerships and auto companies will sometimes donate older cars to the shopbecause the students need to have an actual vehicle to see and take apart.

"We have to make sure they have stuff to work on to reflect the real world," he said.

They work on component parts on benches and then use the car itself to work on exhaust, emissions and the charging system, among other things.

Ford also provided all the service manuals for the cars, to help students and their teachers learn to work with them, Spender said.

While students won't be allowed to drive the cars, letting the students sit in them can be a reward for good performance, Reimer said. And the Mustang will be a much more attractive reward than the Lincoln. "The old Lincoln looked so bad nobody wanted to sit in it."

While Edsel Ford is not in the consortium, DCTC director Malin Wagner knew about their need and about the quality of their program, he said, so the car came their way.

Getting the Mustang will capitalize on one of the strengths of Edsel Ford's auto program -- that the students work on the cars themselves, not learn about component parts from a book. And working on something so new will position them well when they go into the workplace, students agreed.

"I think it's gong to help everybody, knowing what kind of new systems are on these cars and what they are capable of," said Adam Hornbuckle, a 10th grader at Edsel Ford in his second year in the auto program.

At Edsel Ford, students can take classes at Henry Ford Community College once they have completed the four semesters of auto mechanics classes the school offers. Reimer said he strongly encourages his students to take advantage of that opportunity to further their education at no cost to them, since the school district picks up tuition while they are enrolled at the high school.

"I can't tell the kids enough to go on -- they can use that base (in auto mechanics) to become an engineer," he said. "If someone is really sharp they can graduate from college a year after they graduate high school."

They can also take a certification test for mechanics after graduation, if they pursue the option to take the community college classes. Most shops prefer to hire certified mechanics.

Certification also requires two years work experience, but they can get one year of credit for high school courses and one year for college.

Some students are already seeing the benefits of excelling in the auto shop classes.

Guy Taylor, an 11th-grader, said an acquaintance of his mother has already given him a lead on a job in his Ford dealership. "My mom told him I was taking the auto classes and doing really well, and he told her that I should come see him when I turn 18," he said.

The Mustang donation grew out of relationships formed over the last few years, said consortium director Wagner.

The consortium is housed rent-free in unused space at Auto Alliance's training center in Flat Rock, and the group also uses the parking lot there as a bus hub for transporting students between the consortium's participating schools.

Using its central location as a connection shaves about half an hour off transfer time between schools.

The partnership with Auto Alliance has revitalized the consortium, Wagner said.

"This is my 39th year in education and last year I was considering retiring," he said. "I decided not to after forming the partnership with Auto Alliance. It's something I have wanted my whole life, to have education and business working closer together."

Amy Kuras is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.