Endangered Skills

The Endangered Skills Program identifies restoration crafts that are disappearing from the workforce as experts retire or otherwise leave the field. To combat this, through yearly surveys and other communications with those active in the trade, we will identify which skills are most at risk, leading to the release of our annual list, the Craft Ledger.

Through a forthcoming video series produced by the RPM Foundation we will preserve these rare automotive restoration and preservation abilities in a step-by-step format, ensuring they can be learned by future professionals in the field.

The hard truth is that as masters of auto restoration leave the craft or pass on, their unique skillset disappears. With each departure, we lose another ability integral to the proper restoration and preservation of collector vehicles.

Giving to the Endangered Skills programs fuels our ability to document these vital processes for future restoration professionals. Every skill documented through our  series leads to more historic vehicles remaining on the road.