Kelli has old style oil in her veins

Some kids remember the sound of a rattle, Kelli Whelan remembers hearing a ratchet – and being entranced.

"Ever since I can remember I've wanted to be a mechanic," she said after being named the region's top apprentice by the Motor Trade Association.

"It's in the family. Dad is a qualified diesel mechanic and my brother is an apprentice diesel mechanic. Grandad used to tinker all the time so I can't help it."

A former Hawera High School student, Miss Whelan left school at 17 and started a pre-trades training course at Witt.

School didn't hold a huge appeal. "You could do subjects like metalwork but I was not interested in bending metal. I wanted to take stuff apart."

After completing the pre-trade course she got a job at Fitzroy Automotive, a business headed by another star female mechanic Kerrie Thomson-Booth.

Having a supportive boss who was also female established credibility in the workshop, she says.

"You get some guys that come in, look at you and say `what do you know' but then Kerrie walks out."

This is the second year Miss Whelan, 20, has scored highly in the annual MTA awards. Last year she was highly commended; this year she was judged the best from a field of 11 nominations.

At the same time she was named the country's third best MTA apprentice out of a group of about 50.

The win came as a pleasant shock, although if she'd been named best NZ apprentice she would have won a trip to Melbourne to work alongside Greg Murphy. "I was a bit gutted about that."

Her advice to other females contemplating a vehicle related career is to not give up. "I nearly did because it got so stressful with the way people acted towards me, especially older males."