01/11/2026
Heritage engineering doesn’t need to be inherited. It needs to be encountered.
For many young people, the path into restoring veteran cars, conserving historic machinery or mastering traditional craft skills is invisible. Without a family garage, a engineering-minded parent, or a cultural connection to “old things,” the idea simply never arrives.
That is why accessible public events matter.
The Royal Automobile Club’s RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run st James Motoring Spectacle on Pall Mall is a powerful example. Free to attend, it drew close to 15,000 visitors in 2026 and placed pioneering veteran cars alongside electric vehicles, future mobility, careers information and hands-on engagement - including the Association of Heritage Engineers (AoHE) for our 4th year.
why does it work ? It works because it does not ask people to already belong.
A child can stand beside a pre-1905 veteran car, then walk a few metres to see the technologies that will shape their future.
The message is not “preserve the past because we tell you to.” It is: here is human ingenuity; here is craft; here is a career you may never have imagined.
The real barrier
Heritage engineering risks becoming a closed circle: appreciated by those already inside it, but unknown to everyone else.
If we want the next generation of conservators, restorers, patternmakers, coachbuilders, mechanics and engineers, we must make the first encounter easy, free, visible and welcoming.
Events like St James’s do exactly that - turning a central London street into a classroom without walls.
What do I think needs to happen next ?
Put heritage skills where young people already are: city centres, schools, festivals and digital spaces.
Show the people, not only the machines: the problem-solvers, makers and specialists behind them.
Connect heritage craft to modern careers in sustainability, advanced manufacturing, restoration and mobility.
Make, where possible, entry points free and informal - no prior knowledge, connections or “right background” required.
Let organisations such as , The Vintage Sports-Car Club - VSCC The Bugatti Trust Museum and Study Centre and Heritage Skills Academy meet curious visitors face to face, turning wonder into a possible next step.
Heritage is not only something we inherit. It is something we can invite people into.
. Royal Automobile Club
