CAREER STORIES

Joe Mellor

Since attending many vintage vehicle events such as The GoodWood Revival and Kop Hill climb at a young age with my father, I have been intrigued by the mechanisms and operating principles of historic cars, bikes and machinery. After finishing my AS levels at school, I wasn’t keen on the university path, so I began to search for an equivalent option. I found a brand new course which fuelled my interest for vintage and classic vehicles and it was taught at Bicester College. The course, LVL 2 Classic vehicle restoration principles covered a wide variety of skills from mechanical restoration through to welding and fabrication.

I have then gone on to continue my level 3 apprenticeship at the Heritage Skills Academy at Bicester Heritage. I spent the rest of my time at a restoration firm called Tim Walker Restorations Ltd. where I am able to use my theoretical and practical skills that I had learned at the academy in the real world, helping to build engines, restore vintage chassis and fabricate parts in a wide variety of materials! More importantly, I learned real life skills while being an apprentice and member of the team at TWR, something that I perhaps wouldn’t have done if I had chosen to study at university.

I enjoy the diversity every day brings, solving problems and restoring some of the most beautiful and prestigious vehicles in the world. if you are a interested in historic vehicles then I would highly recommend attending the course, as it is certainly the most effective way to jump into the restoration world and to learn skills that are unfortunately dying out. There will always be high demand for the restoration skills that I have learnt from my time as an apprentice at Tim Walker Restorations and the Heritage Skills Academy.

TRAINING PROVIDER

Heritage Skills Academy

EMPLOYER

Tim Walker Restorations