In an ideal situation, Whangarei would have it's own drift track, he said.
So why build a drift car when there's currently nowhere in Whangarei to legally drift? It was all about getting the students interested in studying automotive.
"For all the young teenagers, all the magazines they buy, all the video games they play, and all the movies they watch - like Fast and Furious - they revolve around street cars and drift cars."
The students all follow the national drifting championship, and their heroes include local drifter Gaz Whiter, he said.
The students were asked if they wanted to build a rally car but it was clear their focus was a drift car.
"It's something they were going to do and take pride in their work," Mr Mackenzie said.
Mr Mackenzie was a mechanic for the World Rally Championship cars for 15 years and said the skills the youngsters learned building the drift car would be applicable in any automotive job.
And student Wade Driver is hoping to take those skills into a career of building drift cars and driving them.
The 16-year-old has been working on his own drift car - a A31 Cefiro - and has applied some of the skills he's learned in class to his own project.
His favourite part about the course was "driving the car up and down the driveway".
He'd love to see a drift track in Whangarei.
