Piston Foundation Spotlights Collector-Car Restoration Careers at Monterey

The Piston Foundation used Monterey Car Week 2026 to advance its message that the collector-car industry does not have an interest problem—it has a pathway problem.

Piston began the week at Rancho Cielo’s Classic Car Education Day, announcing a partnership to support students in the nonprofit’s pre-apprenticeship classic car restoration program. Through scholarships, internships and career-path support, Piston will help students move from hands-on education toward lasting careers preserving, restoring and maintaining collector cars, company officials stated in a press release.

“The next generation is ready to work with their hands, master valuable skills and preserve automotive history,” said Piston Foundation president Jeff Mason. “What they need is a visible route from interest to education, from education to experience, and from experience to employment. Together with Rancho Cielo and the collector-car community, we can build that path.”

The promise of that work was on display throughout the week, noted the release. Rancho Cielo graduates Aaron Correa and Maximilliano Perez-Fernandez helped prepare a rare 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The car went on to place third in its class and receive the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy, recognizing the most significant automobile of British origin at the show.

At the 41st Concorso Italiano, where Piston was a sponsored charity, 10 Piston Scholars took to the show field as judges for the inaugural Piston Next Generation Award. They selected a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB as the automobile most likely to inspire a new generation to learn the crafts behind the preservation of collector cars.

Car Week also gave Piston Scholars opportunities to connect with enthusiasts, collectors and industry leaders, including Monica Zanetti, Ferrari’s first female production mechanic and a member of the team that built the Ferrari F40. Zanetti invited two Piston Scholars to pursue internships in Italy’s Motor Valley—an example of the real-world opportunities Piston is working to make visible and accessible nationwide, the organization said.

Piston is calling on employers, industry partners and donors to help expand that pathway through scholarship, internships and support for Piston Jobs, its developing workforce platform connecting auto-tech students and employers in collector-car businesses. By bringing the industry together around the next generation, Piston is “Fueling the Future,” the company said.