Automotive Students' Mustang Restoration Project
Four Penn College automotive students received a heroes’ welcome as their laboratory labor of love – restoration of a 1965 Ford Mustang for public showcase – was officially returned to the Antique Automobile Club of America’s Museum on June 26. The car was displayed near the entrance, its new paint job and chrome catching the glinting sunshine – as well as the admiration of passersby – during the museum's 15th annual car show on its grounds in Hershey. Students Micah C. Kauffman, Beavertown; Charles D. Peterson, Cogan Station; Thomas G. Sylvester III, Manalapan, N.J.; and Daniel J. Walsh, Absecon, N.J.; were applauded by attendees and complimented throughout the day by grateful museum officials. “What is more realistic than taking something and doing a full-body restoration?” asked Steven H. Wallace, assistant dean of transportation technology, who introduced the students and connected their painstaking project to the hands-on philosophy of Penn College’s “degrees that work” before handing back the keys to the museum's iconic vehicle. Also on hand were Debra M. Miller, Penn College director of corporate relations; Loren R. Bruckhart, a member of the collision repair faculty; and representatives of the AACA’s Susquehannock Region who funded and shepherded the project. Students and guests were treated to a tour of the museum, including areas generally off-limits to patrons, and got a peek at the next car to be restored at the college: a rare 1978 Pontiac Firebird Esprit, owned by an Army nurse from the Washington, D.C., area who bought the car as an 18-year-old and donated it to the museum in December.
— Photos by Tom Wilson, news bureau writer/editor
Car enthusiasts line up to view the 1965 Ford Mustang convertible, restored by Penn College students and returned for display at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey.
This explanatory sign accompanies the museum's display of the restored vehicle.
Steven H. Wallace, assistant dean of transportation technology, chronicles the students' quality restoration work.
An American legend, gleaming brightly once more
From left, students Thomas G. Sylvester, Charles D. Peterson, Daniel J. Walsh and Micah C. Kauffman acknowledge the crowd's appreciative applause.
As museum staffers and volunteers mark the occasion, Wallace returns the vehicle's keys to curator Jeffrey Bliemeister.
Daniel Walsh finds a familiar name during a tour of the museum's cleverly presented displays.
Allowed rare public entree to the museum's detail room, the Penn College contingent is shown a vintage Cord – the engine of which was manufactured in Williamsport.
Students Walsh and Sylvester assess the 2010-11 challenge for Penn College's Restoration/Modification class.
Students and benefactors stand behind their work. From left are Earl L. Mowrey Jr., Susquehannock Region chapter board member (and part-time Penn College instructor); chapter president Herb Seltzer; students Walsh, Kauffman, Peterson and Sylvester; chapter board member Ed Stroble; and Carl F. Bennett, chapter vice president.
