The Trust offers financial assistance to individuals or groups to carry through restoration or improvement projects to completion. The Trust also invites enquiries about sponsoring one or more Awards.
Sam and Joe Meakin won the Young Preservationist of the Year Award in 2016 for the restoration of their 1918 Model T Ford Paco which they were able to show to HRH Prince Michael of Kent at Brooklands Museum
We have two joint winners of our Young Preservationist of The Year award and their story is an inspiring story, where a great achievement came out of great personal loss.
They are the fourth generation of their family to own Model T Fords, their great grandparents having been founder members of the Model T
Register and their father having restored several Model Ts to a very high standard.
Their father’s restoration of a 1918 Paco racing version of a Model T was brought to a halt by his sudden and completely unexpected death in 2012.
Clearly the part-finished car was just one matter among many which the family needed to sort out, but the way in which it was sorted out is quite extraordinary. While the two brothers were used to watching and helping
their father they were not up to the task of completing the restoration unsupervised, and so help was obviously going to be needed.
And help was forthcoming when members of the Ford Model T community came up with the offer to ship the brothers and the car to the USA, where the restoration was completed over several weeks
thanks to the skill, knowledge, facilities and hospitality of Model T owners. The brothers were
deeply involved in initial assembly and testing and then taking apart again for painting followed by final re-assembly; you have seen today the quality of the finished product.
I almost feel we should have an award for the Model T Register, but today we must content ourselves with presenting our Young
Preservationist of the Year Award to Joe and Sam Meakin.
The National Transport Trust makes loans to groups, associations and individuals at advantageous rates for the restoration of artefacts - whether mobile or part of the infrastructure. Applications must be supported by a simple business plan which demonstrates the financial viability of the project. A sample business plan is available on request from the Treasurer.
The Trust does occasionaly make Awards for schemes which further the preservation movement. Again if you wish further information please contact the Treasurer.