WFFMM-NAAM Conference 2021

One of the challenges faced by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT), other motor museums and indeed classic and vintage car owners worldwide, is that the skilled people who maintain many of our cars are literally dying off.  What can we do about it? Help train the next generation. JDHT are working with Banbury and Bicester College on a number of initiatives to help train their classic car engineering students.  We have donated a number of old test engines which the students can dismantle and rebuild as required.  We have agreed to take a number of students through the JDHT workshops to gain real experience of a working, museum workshop and complete their ‘work experience’ module. Most importantly the JDHT is working with the college to restore a 1920s Sidecar. The student’s task is to complete the research to find out exactly what it should look like and then fully restore it.  The skills required cover many disciplines including: woodworking for the sidecar frame and body; metalwork to re-build the chassis; upholstery to remake the seat base and back; re-lace the wheel; make the missing mudguard; re-cast a missing aluminum step, etc.  The whole project will need planning, budgeting and documenting including some students from the media studies course to video it. The presentation will outline the project, interviewing the students for the project team, the hurdles which they need to overcome, lessons learnt, and hopefully by the time of the Forum, show images of the finished article.