I can never get the e-brake to engage the first time on a Hyundai Santa Fe I drive in the Philippines.
On the second or third try it engages, as indicated in the instrument cluster
For anyone interested in sending their kid to pursue a career in Auto Restoration they can acquire a a college degree in that major at McPherson College (Kansas) for only $37,000 / year tuition.
On the plus side it’s actually a comprehensive education in all areas of classic car restoration by an accredited college that can lead to an actual career but OTOH how many wealthy auto collectors or auto museums are there who could actually afford to employ the graduates?
Further, how many Antique/Classic vehicles are there that are actually worth the cost of restoration? That 1960’s FIAT Spyder may be cute and hold great memories of Mary Lou at the drive in but is it worth the cost of a specialist to rebuild a Marelli carb or mechanical Jaeger speedometer?
My point is that while the old technology is comparatively crude and simple, it’s hardly worth the time for any new entry mechanic to learn the necessary skills to maintain / repair a technology that they may only see once every 6 months. And from the owners perspective, it’s hardly worth the cost of a repair / restoration when it exceeds the market value of the car.
Thanks. You preserved my post after it got flagged and removed. They left you alone though with my post.
Many more than you think in many more places than you can imagine. And there are private collections, like Jay Leno’s that are not open to the public.
Very often the cost of restoration is not a practical decision but an emotional one. Watch Barrett Jackson or Mecum auctions for a couple of hours and you will see an endless parade of restorations that cost multiple times more than the auction price. The money was spent because it was Granddad’s truck or it was a first car or maybe the car you always wanted in high school. Museums restore, conserve or just maintain cars and require skilled techs that can do this work.
That was a big reason I liked Fantomworks, they would tell how much money the restoration cost (or the parts cost plus hours spent), and the amount spent was often double or triple the value of the resulting vehicle.
Watching what i can of the 400 old truck suction in redeood falls, the bids seem really low. Take your pick of year, make, and model and a few thousand and haul it away. Well see how the real biding goes on saturday.
I would love to be able to see Nicola Bulgari’s incredible collection of vehicles, but it is rarely open to the public, and that occasional availability is only offered to certain car club members. He employs a staff of mechanics and restoration specialists for his huge collection of classic cars.
He likes Rivieras, and has five of them.
He certainly likes Buicks in general!
Ralph Lauren has a significant private collection stored in New York state worth roughly $800M. The cars still run and are maintained by a team of mechanics.
Seems appropriate to this discussion:
If you recall, I wrote about my experience looking at some of his collection in Paul Russell’s facility-
Being an older car, it had to be restored by Paul Russell of Essex, Mass., who over the span of two years spent over 9,600 hours working on it.
The Revs Institute in Naples has used Paul Russel’s shop for restorations. He is well known in the business.
On that note and relevant to this thread, Revs’ shop had one tech lured away, one just passed away unexpectedly and a third will be retiring. 4 techs on the day-to-day work that are now down to 1 for about 125 cars.
Our neighbor had one of those. No power brakes, steering, windows, seat belts, padded dash, air bags etc. he lived to a ripe old age. One time he was turning into his driveway a someone decided to pass him. That steel was so thick that hardly a dent. A modern car hitting one would be a crumpled mess.
Now a man with no mechanical aptitude should keep the old. Putting a newer drive train. Power brakes, and other improvements is not as easy or trouble free as jt sounds. Go to a car show and talk to people that have done both.
What are you doing next week? 
I’d be more than happy to turn some wrenches!