A CRITICAL lack of tradespeople skilled to work on older cars has led to a Sydney business taking on apprentices under a not-for-profit foundation that is now calling for funding to start training.

Classic car enthusiasts and collectors have spent decades frustrated by delays in getting work done on their vehicles which has now led to wait times of up to three years for upholstery and trimming, mechanical engineering and even panel and paint.Modern Classic Car owner David Dyer, whose business restores and modifies older vehicles, said he started the foundation and its plan to train apprentices after enduring long wait times and seeing a reduction in the number of workshops and tradesmen.

“Demand for skilled trades dealing with classic, vintage and veteran cars and motorcycles is huge,” he told GoAutoNews Premium.

“The work generated by this section of the auto industry is valued at $10 billion in Australia, and is in demand around the world.

“Some of the trades appear easy to find – panel and paint, or mechanical work, for example – but many of these workshops are flat out.

“Then there is the specialist work such as working on a carburettor or magneto – which is no longer taught at places like TAFE – or even the harder work such as rebuilding clocks (including speedometers and tachometers) or french polishing.

“It is part of the automobile industry that most people know nothing about, including young people who want to enter the trade. So it makes it hard to attract apprentices to a part of the industry that few people see.”

Mr Dyer said enthusiasts and collectors are finding it increasingly hard to get work done because there are a lot of tradesmen leaving the industry through retirement or illness or simply moving to other locations or jobs.

“On the other side of that, the work is building up as DIY enthusiasts often become disillusioned by repairing an old car and try to find a tradesman,” he said.

“A typical restoration can be two to three years, but it can take a lot longer if you can’t find the right tradesman.”

The Modern Classic Car Foundation – based in Bankstown and which starts training apprentices this week – has received positive feedback from participants and said interest from prospective apprentices had exceeded expectations.

Mr Dyer said 10 apprentices will start – four in mechanical; two in panel and paint; two trimmers; one auto electrician and one engine machinist – after receiving interest from 50 applicants.

Training will be provided from three separate sources – educational facilities such as TAFE and RTOs; workshops for specific skills (such as specialist welding); and skilled tradesmen, usually retired and experienced in skills such as lead wiping, carburettor and magneto rebuilds, and hand-stitched upholstery.

Modern Classic Car has based the foundation at its premises in Bankstown to make it easy for apprentices to access.

“For the future, I see the foundation being based in one location in each state, so all the training for that state is centralised to make it as convenient as possible for apprentices and trainers,” he said.

Colin Bonney, owner of WA classic car repairers Paradise Motors, said most automotive trades allied to the classic, vintage and veteran car sectors were being depleted of workers.

Colin Bonney – Paradise Motors

“You can wait four to six weeks to find a machinist who can start work on a project, even a small project,” he said.

“The same delays are in getting work done by upholsterers (trimmers), coachbuilders, spray painters, auto electricians, and others.

“It’s very hard to find a quality painter and the price you’ll pay now is double that of only a few years ago. You could get the car colour changed for $5000 to $7000 – it’s now $11,000.

“The reason is that the people doing this work are no longer around. They have retired, died or moved to other jobs; mining in particular.

“Every car collector and every car enthusiast is affected by this.”

The co-owner of South Australian classic car specialists Finch Restorations, Harbinda Roberts, said it was “challenging” to get tradespeople.

“We have sponsored a ‘star’ coachbuilder and his family from the US who is now doing fabulous work on projects for customers,” she said.

“It is difficult to find people to do high-quality work on classic cars and even though it literally took years to bring him into Australia – because of poor documentation by a local agent – it has definitely been worth the journey.

“The problem is that people are leaving the industry, mainly because of age, and are not being replaced.”Ms Roberts said that her company was finding it hard to get staff – “but that’s the same for everyone in this business” – and there had been a “crazy” rise in wages that since COVID had increased far in excess of inflation. 

“Wages used to be $25 to $30 an hour and now it’s up to $50 an hour because of demand for the work,” she said.

As tradespeople become scarce and the price for work increases, Ms Roberts also said that she noted fewer young people coming into the industry. 

“This is not helped by the fact the government has stopped some courses, for example, motor trimming – there’s no courses teaching motor trimming, at least not in South Australia,” she said.

“The reason is that we no longer have a car industry. But we have demand because work still needs to be done to repair upholstery.

“So we have a shortage of trimmers for work including the repair to car interiors and also in the case of a restoration which generally needs the replacement of the whole car interior.

“It’s getting a skillset level that we want that is important to our business because it can be costly for us to find the right person. 

“There’s a huge difference between recruiting for white-collar staff and tradespeople, in terms of what people and what level of skills are available.” 

Mr Dyer said that the foundation is now seeking financial support from the automobile industry to ensure it can take the current apprentices through to their trade certificate while preparing a second and third batch of apprentices.

“The governments and their agencies – such as TAFE – have been very helpful,” he said.

“We have also had excellent support from the car clubs. What we need is to attract funds to ensure that we can continue this work.”

Mr Dyer said he has contacted most workshops and agencies and clubs, and will later this month speak at the Royal Automobile Club of Australia in Sydney.