{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ask A Kansan","title":"Vintage Automotive Restoration with Matthew Tyler Miller Wells | Vintage Kansas","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3830,"description":"Everyone assumes car people grew up under the hood with grandpa. This guest didn't — and he might be the best in the business anyway. On this episode, we sit down with Matthew \"Matt\" Miller-Wells, Associate Director of Automotive Studies at McPherson College, to talk about how a '68 Beetle and a lot of video games turned into a career restoring some of the rarest vehicles on the planet. We get into what it's really like inside the only four-year vintage automotive restoration program in the country, the wild story behind building a car museum from scratch in Salina, and how a student-restored 1953 Mercedes ended up placing second in class at Pebble Beach.\n\nHighlights\n\nMatt's automotive obsession traces back to a family '68 Volkswagen Beetle and a Herbie the Love Bug replica bought while stationed in Germany.\nMcPherson College is the only school in the U.S. offering a four-year Bachelor of Science in Vintage Automotive Restoration Technology, started in 1976 by Smokey Blue.\nA feature on Jay Leno's show helped grow the program from a small two-year technical track into a full four-year degree.\nAbout 98% of McPherson grads land a job within six months of graduation, with many landing internships and offers well before commencement.\nCareer paths extend far beyond the shop — alumni now work in insurance (Hagerty), auctions, social media/marketing, and even GM's heritage and design divisions.\nMatt spent five years building The Garage museum in Salina from the ground up, including VR welding/painting simulators and rotating exhibits like an all-yellow-car show.\nThe college's \"Path to Pebble\" project — a student-restored 1953 Mercedes 300S Cabriolet — placed second in class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2023.\nMcPherson is reviving its T Build Team, where students assemble a Model T from parts to a running car in minutes.\nThe college offers numerous scholarships (including from the Model T Ford Club, SEMA, and the Piston Foundation), and over 40% of the class...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/31uDhQmE-73zaqpWjXtwnyYffNMsUnDPiL6GtjTddEQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNzBm/YzFkNDBkODVjNGM2/MzMwMGViYjhmZTY4/Nzc0Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}