Students of the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport had the pleasure of restoring a 1965 Ford Mustang back to pristine shape. They restored it for the Antique Automobile Club of American Museum in Hershey, PA, and won a first-place award at the club’s eastern regional meet.

After restoring the Mustang, and completing a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Espirit for the museum and are now in the process of building a 1970 Chevelle Super Sport 396. The Mustang restoration was such a success that the college has agreed to add another major to their list. The college will no offer a two year degree in Automotive Restoration Technology. Only three other public schools in the country offer this major.

The executive director of the museum, Michael Barrett, is pleased with the idea and plans to be a huge sponsor for the school program. First year students will start off with collision-repair classes. The first class may be about 18-20 students.

There also won’t be any extra bumpers laying around so these students are going to learn how to pound out those dents themselves. Students that make at least a B average will be able to move on to the second year for restoration courses. Some students can opt to start off with a degree in collision-repair and then afterwards move on to get their restoration degree.

“The Mustang was the start of everything,” said Colin Williamson, dean of the school of transportation technology. “It’s a big deal for a school to come in and place first in such a popular category and against some of the top restorers in the country.”

Michael Barrett also called this a “win-win” situation since the Museum doesn’t have the money to budget all of the donated cars. These students will turn them into museum pieces and restore these old cars to get through school. Hopefully other car museums will start to sponsor the program as well. Only serious students need apply.