Turn Your
Collector Car
into Education
For Aspiring Technicians.
Donate a collector car to the Piston Foundation.
100% goes to our scholarship program.
Give To What You Love
Young or old, we all love the look, the feel, and the sound of classic cars. A generation of craftspeople built rewarding careers keeping the cars we love on the road. Now they’re retiring and the collector car industry needs new technicians. Young people are interested in learning the trade, but they need help from the car community to get the education and hands-on training they need.
Your Car Can Change Lives
Your car donation will provide needed funding for Piston Foundation programs and help preserve the car culture you love.
Piston Fund Scholarships
Piston Foundation scholarships make automotive skilled trade education accessible to every student interested in an auto restoration career.
Piston Academy Apprenticeships
Piston Foundation apprenticeships, launching soon, will provide shop-based training that aspiring technicians need to begin a career in the trades of the collector car industry.
100% GOES TO SCHOLARSHIPS
Your gift will make a big impact.
We maximize the potential of your car by selling it through our charity auction partners, Bring a Trailer. 100% of the auction price goes to our scholarship program. Additionally, Bring a Trailer donates 100% of their auction fees to make the impact of your donation even bigger.
The Piston Foundation is a Bring a Trailer Partner
Help Us Help The Car Community
The Piston Foundation has a mission to create a career path that brings more young people into the trades of the collector car industry. We’re not only helping aspiring auto restoration technicians start their career, we’re also helping to preserve the history, culture, and craft of collector cars.
By 2025, the operating budget for our scholarship and apprenticeship programs will be over $1M. Collector car donations are major gifts that help us increase our capacity to serve our scholars, apprentices, and community. Please consider donating a car from your collection to help us help the car community.
Previous Car Donation Auctions
We partner with online auto-auction leader Bring a Trailer.
Bidding on a Better Future: Piston and Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer celebrated its 100,000th listing by selling its own beloved ’73 Datsun 240Z in a charity auction benefiting the Piston Foundation. The auction raised $135,753 for scholarships. Hear what owner, Randy Nonnenberg, and BaT community members had to say about the experience.
Total donation: $129,240
Willys Auction Creates Six New Scholarships
The 1960 Willys Wagon donated by Adam’s Polishes was sold for $30,000. As part of our Cars for Piston Scholars campaign, 100% of the auction price will go to support our scholarship program and will be enough to create six new scholarships for aspiring technicians.
Total donation: $31,500
This Mazda Miata Is Going To One-Sixty
Harvey Siegel has donated his prized race car to the Cars for Piston Scholar campaign. This Spec Miata racer and a Bonneville land speed record holder raised $25,000 for the Piston scholarship program.
Total donation: $26,250
MGB GT RestoMod Delivers a Big Success
Adam’s Polishes donated the MG of the year to Cars for Piston Scholars and nearly set a new auction record for a 1967 MGB GT when it sold for $52,067. This was the second car donation from Adam’s Polishes.
Total donation: $54,670
How Car Donations Work
The Piston team and our online auction partner, Bring a Trailer, will make the donation and sale of your car a smooth and easy process.
- Begin your car donation by completing our online donation submission form. We will ask you to answer a few questions about your vehicle and to upload photos so our team can evaluate whether it’s a good fit for us. Not all cars are accepted.
- If your vehicle is accepted, we’ll work with you to gather all necessary information, including photos, videos, vehicle details, and service documentation. Detailing and photography of your car can be arranged if needed.
- Bring a Trailer will craft an honest and informative listing for the vehicle.
- Our team will manage the process during the auction but we ask that you, or someone else with knowledge of the car, be available to us to answer questions that come from bidders.
- Your car will stay at its current location until the auction is complete. The buyer will arrange for payment to you, as well as pickup or shipping of the vehicle.
- Finally, you’ll make a donation of the auction proceeds to The Piston Foundation.
All proceeds from the auction, including Bring a Trailer fees, are donated to The Piston Foundation. The Piston Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—EIN 85-4373512. Consult with a tax advisor for complete information about the tax deductibility of your car donation.
Start Your Own Car Donation
Begin your car donation by completing our donation submission form. Our team will review your vehicle and respond to you quickly. Not all cars are accepted.
Financial Transparency
We are proud to have received a Platinum Transparency seal from Candid in our third year of operations. We embrace our responsibility to steward the gifts of our donors for the greatest possible impact.
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