"YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW HOW
TO FIX A PORSCHE TO OWN ONE"
That was my father's reply when I told him I was considering a career in automotive repair. Hindsight being 20/20, he was correct and I ultimately chose a different career path. But if you are considering ownership of a Classic and know "nothing" about automotive mechanicals, you can easily get "hoodwinked" at the negotiation table or when repairs are needed.
SO HOW DOES ONE LEARN MORE ABOUT CARS?The conventional methods include the self-taught path or taking a course on auto mechanics. Yet we doubt you are going to quit your job and spend the next few years undergoing technical training to compliment your interests in Classic cars. Nice option if you win the lottery, but if that happened you could simply hire an expert. We may have found a solution for the rest of us.
IF ANYONE KHAN, YOU KHANActually, no you KHAN'T. We're referring to the otherwise excellent Khan Academy. Great if you want to or need to find help for your academic studies (math, science, history, computing, etc) but not if you want to learn about cars. It's a lot like going to college. Great if you want an academic career, but not if your skills, talents and preference are rooted in other areas. And not to get off on a tangent, but why can't someone get a technical degree from Stanford (or other similar university) to become a plumber, electrician or auto mechanic?
WHAT ARE MY CHOICES?A search effort resulted in a group of free and paid online automotive courses, of which the free ones may be a good place to start. But the free courses are limited and the bulk of the paid training requires a long and costly commitment. Probably something most people would not choose.
IRONY IN THE MAKINGWhat we're about to share was brought to our attention by my son, who is in the middle of a earning a Doctoral Degree...at Stanford. Told ya! Nonetheless, let's get to the meat of the topic. An enterprising team of people have begun the construction of a 20 hour training course, "How a Car Works". With a planned 80 episodes, they intend to educate you on every component of a modern car. While the components of a Classic can be vastly different, it's sure better than knowing "jack". If the final package is anywhere as good as the following promotional video, you should be very interested.
DISCLAIMER
As always, we have no commercial affiliation with this project, we do not earn a penny by sharing it with you, nor have we previewed available courses.
Remember, Preserving Automotive History...One Car At a Time® is not just a slogan. It's what we do. Select this link to learn more.
