Jeff Mason of the Piston Foundation

Bring a Trailer Podcast

Alex interviews Jeff Mason, Super-Legit Car Guy as well as President and COO of The Piston Foundation, whose mission is to fund skilled trades programs to help a new generation of craftspeople build rewarding careers in the collector car industry. They start with a primer on what Piston does before moving into the strong interest in cars displayed by today's youth; how modern job readiness and technical education have evolved; the influence of the "Maker Movement"; professional skills vs. trades, and the latter as a jumping off point for both technical and non-technical careers in the collector car industry; the intersection between artistic expression and mechanical inclination; the confidence boost and satisfaction of learning to do something real; and the joy of working with purely objective quality standards. They turn to Jeff's own automotive experiences, such as piggybacking off of someone else's midlife crisis, to great effect: racing with his brother in the Carrera Panamericana, the Mille Miglia, and other famous rallies to come. The pair close by detailing the direct, meaningful downstream effects of donations to the Piston Foundation and how collectors can help change the community's workforce from "graying to growing."

Follow along! Links for the picks discussed in this episode:

1:00 The Piston Foundation

13:32 Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford (Amazon)

22:37 Riley's Rebuilds (Facebook)

25:26 Automotive Restorations (a BaT Local Partner)

32:02 Driving La Carrera

33:00 Fiat 508C Balilla 1100 (Wikipedia)

38:10 Lot #100,000: The BaT 1973 Datsun 240Z for Charity

38:23 Piston Foundation BaT user page

38:27 Support Piston Foundation Scholars With New BaT x Piston Foundation Shirts!

45:30 Cars for Piston Scholars donation program

47:00 34-Piece Scale Model Car “Grand Elegance” Collection for Charity & 47-Piece Scale Model Car “American Classics” Collection for Charity

49:09 BaT Alumni Gathering, October 19 at Coker Farm in Bedford, New York—Registration is Open!

50:15 2025 Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0 sweepstakes

Got questions for the BaT staff or suggestions for our next One Year? Don’t hesitate to let us know! Write in to [e-mail] and we’ll do our best to address them.

Donate to The Piston Foundation today!