Sun Tech students restoring classic cars to support local firehouse at auction

NEW BERLIN, Pa. — Outside of Sun Area Technical Institute in New Berlin, two classic cars arrived by trailer. One is a 1938 Plymouth sedan and the other, a 1951 Dodge sedan. Students from the school’s collision repair technology class are looking over one of the cars to see what work needs to be done. They are being tasked with fixing the cars up for the Spring Carlisle Collector Car Auction.

“The school will refinish those, and the school will donate them to the auction’s other program, which is called Fund the Firehouse. That program takes donated cars, we auction those off, no reserve, with 100% of the proceeds to go to a local designated firehouse,” said Jason Ramey, Carlisle Auction Specialist.

The Hershey Antique Auto Museum donated both of the cars to the school for this project. This isn’t the first year the Spring Carlisle Collector Car Auction teamed up with Sun Tech. Students built pedal cars, and they allowed them to bring those down last year to the auction, and the proceeds went back to the school.

“Honestly, looking them over, I kind of see that the paint is a little bit rough, some of the body spots are rough, but in all honesty, they’re kind of in good shape for how long they’ve been sitting, I assume,” said Coltyn Bickel, Sun Area Technical Institute Student.

The cars will be auctioned off at the Spring Carlisle Collector Auction in April. This is a part of Carlisle Auction’s Fund the Firehouse. New Berlin Fire Company will benefit from this. 

“So what’s going to happen to these cars, they’re going to go across the auction block at Carlisle, and then our fire department, which is New Berlin will be receiving the money from that to be able to benefit us in replacing our engine now that it’s getting out of it’s service life,” said Dakota Johnson, Sun Area Technical School Student and New Berlin Firefighter. 

The project will not be a full restoration; it will be more of a practical, hands-on automotive work. Students will also paint the cars and add some pinstriping. They are grateful to have this kind of opportunity since it’s something they are interested in pursuing after school.

“I think it’s really great, I own an old car myself, an ’89 Camaro, so I really like restoring stuff like that and old cars,” said Aiden Mackert, Sun Area Technical Institute Student. 

The Spring Carlisle Collector Auction features more than 400 consignments spanning all generations of production. Sun Tech is looking forward to seeing their hard work roll across the auction block in the Spring.