- This event has passed.
ARA Pedal Car Challenge
February 7, 2022 @ 8:00 am - July 31, 2022 @ 5:00 pm
The Automotive Retailers Association (ARA), through its AutoCareersBC program, and BASF have teamed up for a new and exciting program, the ARA Pedal Car Challenge. The goal of this province-wide event is to encourage youth to consider the automotive industry as a viable career choice.
The automotive industry offers many different career paths that students may be unaware of or have limited exposure to. The purpose of the ARA Pedal Car Challenge is to introduce students to sustainable careers in the automotive trades and provide mentorship.
Each participating school in B.C. has been given an antique pedal car (a human-powered toy car), to design, modify, and paint. The students have also been provided with mentorship and guidance from the ARA’s industry partners (BASF, Color Compass Corporation, and Craftsman Collision). It is intended that this opportunity to design and manufacture a pedal car will help students learn the fundamentals of vehicle design and manufacturing while broadening their understanding of the industry.
To kick-off the event and inspire the schools, three teams of collision repair and restoration professionals took up the challenge of restoring three different pedal cars to extraordinary effect. 360 Collision Centres, P.J. Collision, and the cast of popular TV show Rust Valley Restorers all stepped in, each coming out with a Pedal Car Challenge story of their own. BASF provided the cars designed by 360 Collision Centres and P.J. Collision, including the paint, and Clint Wilson of Ideal Auto Wrecking donated the Rust Valley Restorers’ vehicle. To learn more, check Pedal Car Challenge article in the Collision Quarterly magazine.
The completed pedal cars will be displayed and auctioned off during the ARA’s 70th Anniversary Celebration + AGM to help raise funds for the Automotive Retailers Foundation Inc. (ARFI), a program that offers scholarships and bursaries to individuals pursuing a career in the automotive industry.
Participating schools in B.C.:
Event sponsors:
