R. Pierce Reid, Owner and Principal Engineer

Pierce Reid has been enjoying and working on vintage cars his entire life. 

 

After college, he went into public relations and marketing.  During a successful career spanning nearly 20 years, he helped launch some of the most successful and recognizable companies of the early Internet days.  Between 1996 and 2005 he served as Senior Vice President of Schwartz Communications; ran a unit of General Dynamics ATP Advanced Programs; and was a co-founder and VP Marketing at Qovia, Inc. a successful VoIP telephony company later acquired by Cisco.  He also has worked as a consultant to the DoD and Pentagon in the area of psychological operations and military information operations.  Today, in addition to his work at the Vintage Garage he is a regular lecturer at Norwich University and is heavily involved in their history and military writing programs. 

 

In 2005 he began restoring cars professionally, taking on his two first projects from Bob Shafner and John DeCampi who had encouraged him to pursue his interest in restoring cars full-time.  Within two years, his shop merged with The Vintage Garage which he purchased outright in 2016.

 

Pierce began his mechanical career restoring vintage motorcycles, Porsches and several Land Rovers.  Looking for the ultimate mechanical challenge, he graduated to working on Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars in the mid 1990's, quickly establishing a reputation as a knowledgeable and thorough hobbyist.

 

He served as Vice President (Technical) Pre-war of the Rolls-Royce Owners Club.  In addition, he has published more than 200 articles on mechanical restoration, automotive history and military history.  He is widely recognized as a speaker and seminar instructor and has spoken around the world on topics ranging from Rolls-Royce restoration to T.E. Lawrence.  He is a two-time winner of the Frank Cooke Technical Manuscript award and served as Technical Editor of The Flying Lady.  In 2017, he was a member of the team of historians that discovered the identity of T.E. Lawrence's "Blue Mist" the car he drove into Damascus in 1918. 

 

His own cars include a 1925 Silver Ghost, a 1914 Model T Ford and a 1965 M151 Military "Mutt" Jeep.  He also collects and restores vintage motorcycles and has regularly rides a vintage BMD "Dakar" motorcycle in places as far away as Iceland, Nordkapp, Norway and Russia.  

 

Pierce also spent almost 15 years as a law enforcement officer, serving on the Stowe Police Department.  He is also an avid outdoorsman and a noted collector of antique firearms and live artillery.  Several of the pieces he has collected and donated now reside in the National Firearms Museum and at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va.  

 

Pierce earned a BS in Technical Communication from Clarkson University and went on to pursue an MS in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.  In 2014, he earned a Masters in Military History from Norwich University and his thesis was published in the Journal of the T.E. Lawrence Society. 

 

Doug Nelson.  Senior Engineer.

Doug has more than 40-years experience working on both modern and vintage vehicles.  A specialist in quality European Vehicles for many years, he has extensive experience in working on post-war Mercedes and other fine marques.  Doug joined The Vintage Garage in 2012 and not only takes the lead on many Rolls-Royce and Bentley projects, but has assisted clients with marques including Mercedes, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Buick and other vehicles that he has a knack for getting just right!  Doug is also a car enthusiast and when not enjoying top-down driving in his Porsche Boxster, he has a Mercedes Ponton and is a military vehicle enthusiast.

 

Ryan Corbin.  Senior Engineer/Fabricator.

Ryan joined The Vintage Garage in 2015 after running his own metalworking and fabrication shop.  A classically-trained artist, Ryan later returned to school to learn welding and metalworking in order to put his artistic talents to use in metal.  Today, Ryan not only handles all aspects of car restoration, but assists in a wide array of fabrication projects for the garage ranging from major components like fenders and body skins to small components for cars.  He also leads The Vintage Garage's custom fabrication services which are able to make one-of or small run components for a variety of projects and industries.

 

Nathan Davey.  Senior Engineer.

Nate began his career in restoration at age 15 as an apprentice at The Frawley Company in Parkesburg, Pa.   One of the finest Rolls-Royce and Bentley restorers in the country, Dick Frawley was not only a great restorer, but a great teacher as well.  After Dick's passing in 2017, Nate now in his '30s, moved to Vermont with his wife and young daughter.  At The Vintage Garage, Nate handles all aspects of restoration ranging from tune-ups to major engine assembly and is learning line-boring.  His years of experience at The Frawley Company made him an instant fit with the team at the Vintage Garage and he looks forward to a long and brilliant career in the field!

 

Jackson Anderson.   Apprentice Engineer/Intern.

Jack, who is also known around the shop as "Viking Jack" joined the Vintage Garage while a vo-tech high-school student in 2018.  Completing his senior year as a work-study intern, Jack got involved in many aspects of restoration ranging from simple bead blasting to re-tubing blocks and assembling/testing slipper flywheels.  Jack is currently enrolled in the Automotive Program at Vermont Technical College and will continue to work at the garage during his studies and into the future.