A Kansas College Restored a Mercedes. It’s Now Headed to Pebble Beach.

Vintage car collecting faces an existential threat: The artisans who know how to restore the classics are aging. According to Paul Russell, the founder of a classic-car restoration shop in Massachusetts, the rate of attrition now exceeds that of replacement. A group of more than 60 college students in Kansas is bringing attention to the problem in an incredibly striking way. Over six years, they have restored a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 300S, and it’s been accepted as an entrant at perhaps the most prestigious car show on the planet: the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, held next month in California.