Internships at Undiscovered Classics
Our First Intern – Kyle Feller – at an Event in February, 2014 With One of Our Cars
We have recently added “internship opportunities” to the Undiscovered Classics family.
The internship program focuses on experiences across the entire Undiscovered Classics enterprise which includes Forgotten Fiberglass, Sport Custom, Belly Tank/Streamliner and other segments of our organization. Our first internship offered hourly compensation in addition to educational opportunities. Future internships may include housing and travel stipends depending on skill level of applicants.
Internships can be as little as 3 months depending on the needs and schedule of the student and our current project load. Applicants may apply for on-site internships (emphasis in hands-on projects) as well as virtual internships (focusing on research, writing, and web development). Internships are designed to allow work experience in research, writing, restoring, exhibiting, and representing our organization in a wide range of professional arenas.
Kyle Feller and Ray Evernham of the Velocity TV Channel Show “AmeriCarna” – broadcast 2015 to Present
We invite applicants to propose their own internship scope and direction as part of the application process. Once accepted, all internships are professionally administrated and academically adjudicated by Professor Geoff Hacker, Ph. D.
One of our first interns – Kyle Feller – worked with us for approximately five months, averaging roughly 10 hours a week. The summary of his experiences (provided by him) are shown below.
From Left To Right: Nate Bowne and Kyle Feller Presenting Automobiles at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance (seated in the 1952 Manta Ray Show Car)
Summary of Internship Experience
(By Kyle Feller, 2014)
During my internship at Undiscovered Classics, one of the more influential and inspiring things was seeing that designing and hand building a car can in fact be done by an individual.
The creation of a car, contrary to popular belief, does not take millions of dollars and hundred person engineering and design teams—only a clever individual with a vision. During my time in Tampa, Florida working with Undiscovered Classics’s handcrafted cars, I saw how truly simple and doable the construction of fiberglass/ handcrafted vehicles can be.
From Left To Right: Art Flores and Kyle Feller Unloading a Newly Acquired Concept From the 70s – The Urbacar
Aside from being inspired by these cars and their stories during my internship, I was able to further practice and develop my mechanical skills on different, new systems that, because of their rarity, I might never have been otherwise exposed.
Along with the practical learning and work came a historical education, not in just a few makes of cars but in the origins of a whole genre of vehicles that few people even know exist. Geoff Hacker knows these cars and the culture that built them better than anyone, and he loves nothing more than to share his knowledge with anyone interested.
From Left To Right: Kyle Feller, George Barris, Marvin McFalls and Nick Bujnowski at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with our 1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury on the Field
This knowledge is not just of the nitty gritty model-to-model differences and information that consumes many auto enthusiasts, but of an entire forgotten automobile subculture of talented and motivated dreamers.
Not only does he find their stories in his ever growing collection of books, photographs, newspaper clippings, and trade magazines—he tracks down and befriends original designers and builders along with their families, discovering firsthand stories and details.
Geoff also gave me the chance to research and write articles for the Undiscovered Classics / Forgotten Fiberglass website. This was an amazing opportunity for me, as the history is one of the most charming and inspiring things about these cars, and it was extremely exciting to share their untold stories and motivate others to find, restore, or perhaps even build their own unique automobiles.
Kyle Feller, Intern, 2014
Kyle Feller Helping Load a Rare CRV Race Car Body at “Fiberglass Farms”
Please contact us for additional detail to discuss possible
future internship opportunities
Here at Undiscovered Classics:
“We find, research, restore, show and sell America’s
lost automotive treasures…”
Click Here To See Our Undiscovered Classics Portfolio