08/07/2018 by Jeff Silver

With over 50 years of experience in the automotive industry, Jeff Silver is known for his innovative leadership. Regarded as a “Founding Father” of I-CAR^®, Jeff led the I-CAR team as executive vice president from 1985-1996, laying the foundation for what would become the industry standard. For a full length bio, visit i-car.com/collisionreporter/training.

There is a timeless expression, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” At first glance, it may not appear that there are many similarities between the auto industry today and when I-CAR was born in 1979. However, a closer look reminds us that that age-old adage is still relevant for a reason. For one, the need for training today is as great, if not greater, than it was almost four decades ago. A quick trip through the past shows us that while innovation is, and always has been, rampant, I-CAR’s response remains steadfastly cutting-edge. 
 
In the mid-1970’s, the oil crisis forced domestic car manufacturers to develop a new generation of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. The Ford Fairmont, Chevrolet Citation and Dodge Omni represented a dramatic change in the way North American cars were built. The collision repair, insurance and supplier industries had been dealing with large, body-on-frame cars for decades, so the new unibodies caught everyone by surprise. That’s why I-CAR was created, and has helped the industry adapt every since. Now, years later, unibodies have become the norm, and I-CAR has consistently delivered industry-standard training necessary to make complete, safe, quality repairs to these vehicles. 
 
We are now in the midst of another wave of significant change, with new technology, materials, and structures all shaking up the industry. A couple of years ago, it was predicted that a “Technical Tsunami™”—a term coined by I-CAR—was on the horizon. 
 
Well, it’s here.
 
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Check out THE TRAINING ISSUE of “Collision Reporter” to read ‘Part two’ of Jeff’s story.