Building the Path at Monterey Car Week 2026
Monterey Car Week brings together some of the world’s most extraordinary automobiles and the people who preserve, collect, and celebrate them. For the Piston Foundation, it also provides an opportunity to focus attention on the skilled technicians who will keep those cars on the road for generations to come.
Throughout Car Week 2026, we joined students, educators, enthusiasts, collectors, and industry leaders at events across the Monterey Peninsula. Each stop reinforced a message at the heart of our work: the collector-car industry does not have an interest problem—it has a pathway problem. The next generation is eager to learn the trades. Our industry must give them clear routes from interest to education, hands-on experience, and meaningful careers.
By Jeff Mason
August 23, 2026
Rancho Cielo Classic Car Education Day
We began the week at Rancho Cielo, our newest education partner and home to a pre-apprenticeship classic car restoration program for high school students. Piston co-sponsored Classic Car Education Day, where students met professionals from across the collector-car community and learned more about the careers available to them.
Piston Foundation President Jeff Mason spoke about the need to build visible career pathways for aspiring technicians. He also shared how Piston and Rancho Cielo will work together to support students through scholarships, internships, and career connections.
The value of hands-on opportunity was already visible on campus. Rancho Cielo students helped prepare Bill Hayward’s rare 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental for its appearance at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—giving them real-world experience with an automobile of exceptional significance.
Concours Carmel
The following day, Piston joined Rancho Cielo at Concours Carmel, hosted by the Ferrari Owners Club in downtown Carmel.
Sharing a booth gave our organizations the opportunity to introduce the Piston mission to local students and families, collectors, enthusiasts, and other members of the automotive community. Conversations throughout the event underscored how many people care deeply about preserving automotive heritage—and how important it is to connect that enthusiasm with opportunities for the young people who will carry the work forward.
The Paddock Monterey
Piston was proud to serve as a sponsored charity of the second annual Paddock Monterey, an event celebrating the breadth of automotive technology, design, and culture—from timeless classics to future concepts.
Piston Scholars joined us for the event, gaining another opportunity to experience Monterey Car Week and connect with the wider collector-car community. Experiences like these help aspiring technicians see where their skills can take them, meet people working throughout the industry, and begin building the professional relationships that can shape a career.
Concorso Italiano
At the 41st Concorso Italiano, Piston again served as a sponsored charity—and this time, Piston Scholars took an active role on the show field.
Ten Scholars judged the inaugural Piston Next Generation Award, created to recognize the automobile most likely to inspire a new generation to learn the crafts of preserving, restoring, and maintaining collector cars. After exploring a field of more than 1,000 Italian automobiles and motorcycles, the Scholars selected a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB and presented the award to its owner.
The day also created memorable connections. Piston Scholars Emma Silviera and Morgan Moravec met Monica Zanetti, Ferrari’s first female production mechanic and a member of the team that built the Ferrari F40. Encounters like this bring the pathway to life, allowing emerging technicians to meet the craftspeople who shaped automotive history and imagine how they might contribute to its future.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
We closed the week at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, enjoying one of the world’s great celebrations of automotive excellence while supporting our partners and students from Rancho Cielo.
The 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental prepared with help from Rancho Cielo graduates Aaron Correa and Maximilliano Perez-Fernandez placed third in its class and received the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy, recognizing the most significant automobile of British origin at the show.
For us, the achievement captured the meaning of the entire week. The future of the collector-car community is represented not only by the remarkable automobiles on the show field, but also by the young people learning how to care for them.
Across five events, we saw the talent, enthusiasm, and potential of the next generation. We also saw what becomes possible when schools, employers, supporters, and industry leaders help turn that interest into opportunity.
The next generation is ready. Now it is our turn to build the path—and Fuel the Future.
Campaigns
Give to What You Love
Make a gift that helps the next generation access the education and training they need to begin a career as a classic car technician. Gifts of any size are appreciated and will be used to fund our scholarship and apprenticeship programs.
Sponsor a Piston Scholar
Piston Foundation scholarships are awarded to aspiring technicians to help them begin an auto restoration career. Give to the car culture you love. 100% goes to fund scholarships.
Cars for Piston Scholars
Turn your collector car into education and hands-on training for aspiring collector car technicians. Your car can change lives. 100% goes to fund scholarships.
Give to What You Love
Make a gift that helps the next generation access the education and training they need to begin a career as a classic car technician. Gifts of any size are appreciated and will be used to fund our scholarship and apprenticeship programs.
Sponsor a Piston Scholar
Piston Foundation scholarships are awarded to aspiring technicians to help them begin an auto restoration career. Give to the car culture you love. 100% goes to fund scholarships.
Cars for Piston Scholars
Turn your collector car into education and hands-on training for aspiring collector car technicians. Your car can change lives. 100% goes to fund scholarships.
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