ABSTRACT
Preservation education the world over prepares people for careers related to stewardship of the historic built environment. However, within these programs, there is no curriculum pertaining to the preservation of automotive heritage or vehicular material culture as a component of the field. This shortcoming is reflected within the United States by the more than 93,000 places on the National Register of Historic Places (N.R.H.P.), which includes 165 watercraft, 63 railroad vehicles, 4 airplanes, and several objects related to the space program, but not one single automobile, even though cars have made considerable contributions to American culture and human civilization for more than a century. Much information and material culture related to automotive heritage has been lost or is not being maintained appropriately due to the lack of professional preservation education in this area.
