2019 Porsche 911

The upcoming, 992-generation Porsche 911 could adopt some form of electrification, though the extent of the adoption has yet to be confirmed by the company, according to chief of the 911 model line August Achleitner. This is reflected by the latest spy images of the 992-generation car, here including an image of its interior. The capabilities enabled by said interfaces also need to fit with the character of the Porsche 911, the model line director added. 鈥淲hen it comes to the individual assistance systems, the have to fit with the 911. Those are convenient and useful things. But the customer has to make the choice to use them and, above all, be able to switch them off when they鈥檙e not desired,鈥?he said. There鈥檚 hope for fans of the stick-shift transmission, too, judging from this image of the test mule鈥檚 interior showing a manual transmission lever. This doesn鈥檛 mean the product chief is completely against the development of a 911 with electric drive, however.

After chatting to Khalid Zaman, who is nearing the end of his Level 2 Diploma, we鈥檇 say the answer is very. 鈥淲hen you fix something, there鈥檚 a joy to it,鈥?he tells us. Khalid is removing the head from a 1.9-litre Volkswagen TDI on a 鈥榬ig鈥?- a mobile stand that allows the engine to be turned and rotated for easy access. 鈥淢odern engines are so well engineered they鈥檙e a pleasure to work on, and this is a really good one,鈥?he adds enthusiastically. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an old unit, but there is absolutely no pitting or scoring inside the cylinders.鈥?Khalid speaks like a born mechanic, telling us he spent his childhood taking things apart and putting them back together. While most of the students we speak to have their eyes on apprenticeships, that鈥檚 not the case for all of them. One tells us he鈥檚 taking the course to learn skills for his own personal use, while another, Andrew Medhurst, wants to become a mechanic in the Royal Marines. 鈥淢ost of the skills I learn here will be transferable,鈥?Andrew says.

And although the majority of the learners we meet are young lads, there are a couple of female students taking Diplomas, too. Rachel Swain, for example, races go-karts in her spare time, and also works as an apprentice mechanic for a local Classic Sports Car Club (CSCC) racing team, which runs a Lancia Delta Integrale and a Holden V8. She tells us she has a lot of the knowledge already, but will get the qualifications to prove that at college. 鈥淚 can apply the things I learn in the garage to the track workshop, and use the skills I learn in the garage to help me in the classroom,鈥?Rachel explains. We also speak to Kayleigh Sinsbury, who wanted to be a mechanic from a young age. 鈥淓veryone told me no garage would want to take on a female mechanic,鈥?she says. That all changed when Kayleigh had a conversation with a local garage boss. 鈥淗e said it didn鈥檛 matter whether I was male or female, he would hire me if my skills were good enough.鈥?Kayleigh tells us college has been empowering.

For the industry to survive and thrive in the long run, it has to attract talent like Kayleigh. As such, Buckinghamshire College Group has recently also opened up a new facility at its Wycombe Campus that offers additional courses for budding technicians. The hope is that with more courses and locations, more young people consider a career in the automotive industry. Stuart Carter, a course workshop technician, tells us the safety of his students is always paramount. 鈥淭he most dangerous thing in the workshop environment is crushing,鈥?he says. 鈥淚f someone gets stuck under a car, they鈥檙e probably not going to make it. Steve Haines, a motor vehicle lecturer at the college, explains some of the advantages college training has over starting in a workshop. 鈥淚n a garage, you鈥檇 be changing bulbs and wipers, making tea and sweeping up,鈥?he says. There are six cars in the workshop in various stages of mechanical undress, and students can even bring in their own cars to work and train on.