Restoring classic cars in the classroom

McPherson College, about an hour north of Wichita, Kansas, is home to the nation's first, and only, four-year automotive restoration program. There, car-crazy students restoring classic vehicles (from a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300S Cabriolet, to a 1965 Porsche 356C) learn to become mechanics and detectives, artists and historians. Correspondent Lee Cowan reports.

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[ElliottCustomLures]

I'm a member of the McPherson Auto Restoration Class of 2009... It was so much fun seeing the cars that I learned on, and even one of my professors in this. We learned so much in this program. Awesome publicity for an incredible program. Go Bulldogs!

[LynnWaugh-zh]

Absolutely loved this. What a great thing for a college to offer. Coming out of college with real prospects of a good job is priceless.

[HawklordLI]

As an old man and an old car lover I'm almost in tears.

[treblenote]

this segment is AWESOME !!!! So happy that this exists and there are young people that have this PASSION and DESIRE to restore these cars !! They are so talented
in their craft and are getting an AMAZING support !!!!

[iplaymytele]

Hell Yes……! I’m 70 years old, I drive a 1971 Karmann Ghia, And restored it to my liking…👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 when I was in high school back in 1970- 1973 we Had incredible vocational shops… Our auto shop was equipped with everything to build a car from the ground up with the greatest of ease… a giant welding shop and metal fabrication, with everything we needed..! a giant agriculture shop where you could overhaul a combine, need be… So we learned all this stuff in high school…! This is How Most midwestern high schools used to be …👍🏻 Lucky for me, I was a gearhead and my grandfather’s were both automotive experts…..! ❤️👍🏻❤️👍🏻

[WilliamCox-ihdu]

I am so excited for these kids! These cars are the work of art! Not plastic like now and not like all the other cars!! You used to be able to look at the tail light to see what year of car it is.

[DavidGregoire-pm]

I was just talking with a group of my old car friends about the future of the hobby when we are all gone.This brought a smile to my face!😊

[TVaughan]

Lee and the CBS team, thank you for another remarkable Sunday morning story,

[leonardodalongisland]

I hold two college degrees, I've been in and made films, I've written scripts, performed on the stage, sang in NYC, played softball and worked with celebrities and done fireworks for President Clinton-who also owns two pieces of art by me, but one of my fondest memories was the automotive shop class I took in high school (where my dad would bring our family car for us to work on) and the teacher who ran it. This is such a great thing.

[tituscelani]

I saw this morning at the end, thank you for posting. As a business owner at 39 running a Electric Golf Car repair facility, this gives me hope. I can’t find people that know the difference between metric and US thread.
To see these young men and women care stitch to stitch is heartwarming. Keep going!

[haydenlake]

Heartwarming story! I have a BS, MBA and doctorate, but I am much more impressed by the people in this story than people like myself with advanced business degrees. The young man highlighted in the story is a true hero. Our country needs to elevate educational opportunities in the trades and trade technologies. These folks and programs deserve our financial and societal support!

[elosogonzalez]

Thank you two fold. Training the next generation of restorers and keeping the old cars on the road!😊

[MrTedodell]

THANK YOU CBS SUNDAY MORNING for airing this important story! It gives me great hope the antique car hobby in the U.S. has a solid future. ❤

[gregbonifay]

Trades like this is what built America.

[susannpatton]

It is absolutely wonderful that this place exists. Bravo! From a generational car girl. My dad is an autobody man, uncle owned a junkyard. My brother's are mechanics
And my father drove a race car and so did 2 of my uncles and 2 of my cousins. ❤

[larrypatchett]

Taking care of old cars is a family legacy. Dad bought his first car in 1949 and kept it for 59 years. That car was a 1939 Packard Super 8 Convertible. Dad owned four Packards during his life and I am the caretaker of the fourth and most humble of those cars, a 1953 Packard Clipper. Few who see her know what she is. They imagine she is a Chevy or Buick. It is her turquoise color people react to. Those of us who are stewards of old vehicles are keepers of lots of lost knowledge. Nice to hear about this place preserving some of that. On so many levels these cars have something to teach a modern audience. The lesson plan I give starts with a short phrase, "Four ashtrays. NO cupholders"! That sets people into the very different mindset of the early 1950s.The next bit of fun comes when someone asks, "Does that have a V-8"? I smile and tell them, it has eight cylinders but they are not in a V, they are all inline. Eyes widen at that fact. The biggest shock from young for is when I tell them Packard outsold Cadillac until just a couple years before Emmy, my 1953 Clipper was built. The idea that there was a car above Cadillac stuns them. Again, happy to learn the school is helping to preserve the skills needed to keep these pieces of American history running.

[tkreitler]

I have been aware of McPherson for years but this offered some new insight into the program. There are so many cars out there that were not designed to be disposable. It would be a shame if there was nobody to keep them going.

[WFO.]

Amazing students, school, teachers and alumni. 🇺🇸

[TheRadioMaestro]

In today’s world of negative and downright bizarre news, this piece was a joy to watch. Kudos to CBS, and even bigger kudos to these students!

[justfinger]

Amazing!! Rooting for all these students. So impressive!!