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Las Vegas is known for being the city that never sleeps. It is also home to the annual SEMA Show. However, the products and concepts at SEMA aren’t the only innovative ideas that are gracing the automotive world from the Las Vegas area, we found out from Jalopnik. The Vegas area also plays host to an innovative new way to restore classic cars using prison labor.
Now, it’s not uncommon for prison labor to be used to create products most of us use, like books, clothing and license plates. Just outside Las Vegas at the Southern Desert Correctional Center, however, prisoners are doing more than creating basic things. They are actually restoring classic cars for their owners.
Working in the restoration shop isn’t just an ordinary prison job, though. The corrections department requires that inmates applying for the job must have at least the equivalent to a high-school diploma and have no disciplinary infractions for a minimum of six months. In turn, prisoners who work in the shop get job that is intellectually challenging, prestigious and extremely rewarding. It also gives some of them a little contact with the outside world when contacting facilities for parts and doing customer service.
Currently, the facility has 32 cars in different phases of restoration, including two ‘60s Corvettes, two ‘60 Mustangs, a ‘65 Malibu, a ‘59 Thunderbird and two ‘69 GTOs. The cars come from customers who bring their classic cars to the prison shop to be fixed up and restored to their original glory. Last year, the restoration shop brought in $130,000 of revenue to the facility.
All the money made from the vehicle restorations isn’t just revenue, however. Prisoners must be paid to work and for those who owe money to the Nevada correctional department, 5 percent of their wage is garnished and put in Nevada’s victims-compensation fund, providing money for victim restitution.
The innovative move to use prison labor for restoring old cars is not only making much needed money for the correctional facility and restitution for crime victims, it is also providing prisoners valuable job skills and bringing old cars back to life. With the motto “We Have the Time to Do It Right” backing up the work, customers can feel confident that they will be getting a job well done.
