In our customer lounge area, there is a cabinet filled with model cars. The curio cabinet is an old 1980’s style cabinet that you don’t see much anymore. All the shelves are filled with the different make and models of cars. There are Corvettes, Mercedes Benz, Ferraris and Lancias.
The cars are die cast models that Jeff collected with his dad, Arie, over the years. Arie passed away over twenty-three years ago. He and Jeff spent a lot of time collecting the cars together and each one has a memory attached to it. They are all vehicles that were rare. When they searched for cars, they looked for makes that either hadn’t been produced for very long or that had something unique that year. The doors, hoods and trunk or boot all are functional.
They are at our shop because that is where they belong. Arie’s dream was to have an auto repair shop and to pass along all his knowledge to Jeff, who also loved cars. Collecting the cars with Jeff was something that they enjoyed doing together. Jeff’s mom had the cars at her home until she passed away and Jeff received them. There was a sense of nostalgia and great memories when we brought them to the shop and they were put back on their glass shelves in the case.
Every night when we leave we pass by the car case as well as the picture of Arie that we have up in the waiting area. It’s a gift to be able to continue with a family business and sometimes, to stop and look at something like these cars, and savor the memories of time spent together.