A classic car can survive for generations. The knowledge needed to restore it can disappear when a single expert leaves the trade.

The challenge

RPM Foundation’s Endangered Skills was created to document the disappearing skills necessary to restore and maintain special interest vehicles. The method was undetermined. Working with RPM's executive director, we developed a multi-episode format that would take viewers on an entertaining and educational step-by-step journey to understand how the skill is performed.

The format

The series features videos of nonconforming length, allowing for the time necessary to properly document that skill. Each episode puts an expert and an apprentice together around a real process, ensuring the skill can be documented and passed on to the next generation in real time. Viewers see both the technique and the exchange of knowledge, giving a practical subject a human story.

My contribution

I wrote and produced the first three episodes in collaboration with RPM Foundation. My work brought together automotive subject matter, restoration shops, a production team and educational storytelling to help document these processes on camera.

The final product

The opening episode establishes the groundwork: restoration theory and planning with Travis LaVine at LaVine Restorations. Subsequent subjects include radiator core-and-shell mating and multi-carburetor engine tuning.

These episodes were funded in part by Hagerty Drivers Foundation and are slated to be released in the near future. The introduction of the first episode can be viewed below.