All you need to know about McPherson College Automotive Restoration

A 1929 Ford Model A Roadster in the Assembly Lab.

Featured on Wayne Carini’s Chasing Classic Cars, Automobile Magazine, and most recently on Dennis Gage’s My Classic Car, McPherson College’s Automotive Restoration program is a one-of-a-kind program that focuses on the restoration of classic cars. The program is supported by big names like Jay Leno, Paul Russel, and Craig Jackson, and more recently the Ferrari Club of America.

 

The restoration program started in 1976 after a man named Gaines H. “Smokey” Billue donated 125 classic cars to the school to fund it. 21 years later, the program gained the attention of classic car collector and host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno. Leno, “established the Fred S. Duesenberg Scholarship and the Jay Leno Popular Mechanics scholarship” (McPherson College). These scholarships were awarded to students who excelled in the program to assist the students with their finances along the way. Now, in the 42nd year of the program, the school has connections spanning across the globe. These connections provide scholarships, internships for students, and an endless number of student experiences.

Templeton Hall Entrance

Student projects on display in Templeton Hall

1926 Ford Model T Speedster in the Paint Lab

1932 Ford on a lift in the Chassis/Drivetrain Lab

Beginning in 2003, with grants and donations from Mercedes-Benz, the program took a big leap forward. The program moved from a 2-year degree, to the only Bachelors Degree of it’s kind.

Resting in Templeton Hall on the eastern end of campus, students partake in classes that range from the bottom of the tire to the paint on the roof (with the exception of making the tires themselves and bending and cutting the glass). Students learn hands-on skills in 8 labs within Templeton Hall. The labs include sheetmetal, woodworking, drivetrain/chassis, machining, paint, trim, and assembly. The degree is offered in five different paths including; business, communications, design, history and technology. All students in the program are required to take core classes that span throughout all areas of a restoration. In addition, depending on the path the students decide to follow, they take additional classes that focus on their path. All in all, every student the graduates from the program has the general knowledge and skills to perform a full restoration of a vehicle, but also has experience in business, communication, design, history, etc.

Sewing machine in the Trim Lab.

Austin Healey in the Assembly Lab

McPherson College has built a network of connections across the world. These connections provide funding for the students or the program, internships in the summers, experiences at events like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and careers for the students post graduation. Most students take at least one internship within their time at the school. Internships are often at restoration shops near the students’ homes, but many students also partake in internships at museums, auction companies, media companies and many more. Each summer the students spread across the country, and even the world. Proven with a 98% job placement rate within three month after graduation, it is hard for a student not to get a career after attending McPherson College.

Student, Benjamin Falconer, at his internship at GTO Engineering in the summer of 2017.

Sign up for a visit today by visiting McPherson College’s website (McPherson College Website) and clicking “Visit MC.” Or attend one of four Automotive Restoration Visit Days each year (MC Visit Days). Follow McPherson College Automotive Restoration on Facebook and Instagram.

American Boy takes on England

 

How is it that a 20 year old American boy is on a 5 week trip to England to work on Ferrari cars? That’s the question I ask myself every morning when I wake up.

I am a little over a week into my summer work experience here at GTO Engineering working in the Restoration Workshop. GTO Engineering is a world renown Ferrari shop based out of Twyford, England, just 20 miles west of London. How did I get this job? Well first let me give you some background on me.

I’m not a rich boy by any means. My dad is a firefighter and my mom is a teacher. We are a middle class family. That being said, I had never thought of seeing a classic Ferrari outside of museums and magazines. I was raised in Greeley, Colorado, which is known for smelling like utter shit (no pun intended) due to local feed lots. My early years of life, I quickly became a daddys boy. I loved the smell of gas, the art of cars, and the sound of an engine (they sounded a bit different then where I am now). My dad built motorcycles and cars with his friends, and my brother and I even had a couple projects of our own. But as I said, middle class, so these projects weren’t even worth a bargain, but were great to learn from. My first car was originally intended to be a 1966 VW Beetle, but soon into my teens I realized a muscle car would be a bit more badass. So, at 14 years old, I learned how to sell a car to get the money for a new one! The new car was a 1967 Pontiac Firebird. Set to be done by my 16th birthday, which as most would have guessed, did not happen.

Fast forward a couple years to my junior year of high school, this was when I quickly became more of a petrol head. I had expanded my skills quite a bit over the years with the Firebird. I helped other kids from high school with their car problems and eventually became the “car guy” at Greeley West High School. I had become very fond of painting cars by then from watching a family friend on Facebook and the painting scenes in TV shows. My interests quickly became a reality during my 3rd year of high school. I got the opportunity to be dual enrolled in both high school and automotive refinishing at Aims Community College.

I spent my last two years of high school in the paint booth. Through my refinishing program I was given the opportunity to compete at SkillsUSA, where I placed gold at the National level for two years straight. After my first gold medal, I had decided that cars is what I want to build a career out of. So that’s when college searching came into effect. I had received many scholarships through SkillsUSA, some of which were full tuition, to attend various tech schools. But tech school wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I still wanted a true college experience that a local community college or tech school could not have given me. Then one evening while my dad and I were watching tv, an episode of Chasing Classic Cars came on, which featured a very small college in the middle of Kansas named McPherson College.

Immediately I grew interested and looked into it more. The price tag scared my dad of course, and being out of state for four years scared my mom. But after a visit a few months later, there was no question that I belonged there.

My decision to attend McPherson College changed my life. I finally fit in with other kids at school for once, which was life changing alone. Other youngsters with interest in old cars can probably agree with me there. I have made friends that I will hold close for the rest of my life. Not only other students, but also professors. I also have been given opportunities I thought I would never be able to get.

After a long freshmen year of getting used to being on my own and learning how to be a college student, I received my first college achievement. I was given a scholarship for my sophomore year, the Pebble Beach Foundation Phil Hill Scholarship, which provided funds to help with my tuition and also a trip to the Concours d’Elegance in 2017. I also receive a SEMA scholarship, which helped with tuition and a pass to the SEMA show in 2017 as well.

One of the huge parts of McPherson College is it’s connections within the automotive industry. Having those connections brings many opportunities for us students to expand our knowledge and skills we have gained through school into real world situations. Every summer, most students have an internship. Some of them are found and applied for through the school, but many others are found through the students personal network. My freshman year, I got an internship in Los Angeles at GTO Engineering. I was 19 years old, living in LA right by the sign for Beverly Hills, working on Ferrari’s. After my internship had ended, my girlfriend Kylee flew out to spend a weekend with me in California. We then made an amazing road trip back to Kansas for the school year. A couple weeks after we got back to school, I was headed to Monterey, California for the Concours d’Elegance. I thought it couldn’t get better then that, until my sophomore year, just a few months ago.

I decided to send an email to my supervisor from GTO last year to ask about possibly spending another summer with them, but within a restoration setting rather than a full service and maintenance setting. I was quickly offered to travel to their restoration workshop in the United Kingdom for the summer of 2018. After months of setting it up, it became real. I hopped on a 9.5 hour flight to London to spend 5 weeks working on vintage Ferrari’s.

Over the last week and a half I have taken part in the build of one of the recreations that GTO Engineering is well known for, a 1958 250 Testa Rossa. So far I have installed the fuel tank, built and installed fuel lines, painted various parts, fabricated outer mirror brackets, and also many other various tasks throughout the shop. I have gotten experience within the machining shop to make the parts I needed, instead of buying them. I have also learned a lot about the company and even more about the history of Ferrari. While I am here, I am living in a little cottage right on the River Thames in the small village of Wargrave.

It is quite an odd feeling to be in a new country alone, especially after 2 years of going to a college where it is weird to see a new face. But, after a week of being here, I am starting to get a hang of things. I hope to find time to share many more blogs about things I am experiencing and seeing. I hope you choose to follow and read again!