At first, I planned this month’s column to be a gossip column of salacious tales related by Potomac Region (PR) members to each other in the CLC Hershey tent. Then I changed my mind and decided to make it a gripe column.

First, a good thing happened on the way to the forum.  Walking toward the CLC tent, I came across a group of young people, dressed in uniform T-shirts, taking a break, waiting for the next activity.  They were by a bus with a sign “Pennsylvania College of Technology, Affiliate of Penn State University.”  I stopped and asked if they were college students studying auto restoration. They were. I should have taken a picture!

The gripe: We’ve all been lamenting the lack of quality restoration services in the hobby. The complaints have become deafening.  It seems that a “good” shop is one that gets at least half of its work right.  It goes downhill from there. Samples of my personal misfortunes:

1. An engine rebuild from a very expensive and reputable shop sprung a big oil leak after only 300 miles.
2. A transmission rebuild from a very experienced senior mechanic came with a huge oil leak discovered after 30 miles.
3. Another engine job from somebody who should have known better came with a pinched rear main seal that gushed oil all the way home and then some.

That’s only 1% of my woes, and the rest of you have just as many. (End of gripe)

Promising solution: Here are these kids at Hershey, so enthusiastic about auto restoration that they enrolled in a formal program (which didn’t exist back when I needed it) at a prestigious institution, preparing for a career to bring classic cars back to life and keep them running.  These students are taking serious courses like automotive history, vintage mechanical systems, metal fabrication, metallurgy, final assembly, research and design.  They’re even learning to use English wheels!  Their school bills add up to ca. $14,000 per semester, which blows my mind.

For those of us who count our age in centuries, improvement in the trade probably won’t happen soon enough.  It takes a couple years of schooling and then decades of experience to gain top skills. But we can start to make things right for the next generation.  That’s why I’m proposing a PR scholarship program to support and encourage these kids, who will raise the bar in restoration skills.

Naturally there will be challenges, but every problem has a practical solution. Examples: To avoid a grantee taking the money and skipping town, channel each grant through the chosen school’s own financial aid office, and let them administer it the same way as all scholarships.  We may put conditions on our grants, e.g., our students may have to come from the Potomac Region geographical area.  Also, we can require PR participation in the selection process.

Scholarships are one of two initiatives I’m proposing for the Potomac Region in 2027.  To find out the other one, ask a LaSalle owner.

The Potomac Region welcomes new members Don & Denise Thomas of Fredericksburg, VA, Eddie Lassahn of Middle River, MD, and Warren & Elizabeth Wilson of Ellicott City, MD.  That brings PR membership up to 189, the highest since 2018, eight years ago, and the highest in the CLC. 

Larry Good

Breaking News:  Just before this message was posted, Jack Gallagher stepped up to the plate to chair the new PR LaSalle Centennial Committee.  PR has 14 members who own a total of 17 LaSalles.  Jack will be calling you for your ideas on celebrating the marque’s 100th anniversary next year.  2027 is your moment in the sun!  Also, Bill Hilliard will initially chair the new PR Scholarship Committee.  He has already reached out to mid-Atlantic colleges about establishing a scholarship fund for students in automotive restoration programs.