Today we’d like to introduce you to Barry Wilson.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in Waukomis, Oklahoma where my love for cars started at a very early age.
My grandfather was the Ford Dealer in this little town of 671 people. When I was a preschooler he would pick me up and I would spend time at his dealership walking around the garage with a rag hanging out of my pocket as if I were a mechanic.
When I got older, I worked after school and during the summers. All the men at the dealership could see that I had an interest in fixing cars and they took me under their wings and gave me car repair lessons.
My desire when graduating from high school was to become a mechanic but my dad would not hear of my plan and sent me to Oklahoma State University where I studied mechanical technology and graduated with a degree in Technical Engineering.
My first job out of college was working for Ford Motor Company. After trying the corporate worked, I started Wilson Auto Repair in 1981.
Over the past 35 years, I was lucky enough to appear on Fox 4 Television for ten years as a regular every Monday Morning answering car repair questions. I hosted three different radio shows served as President of the local Automotive Service Association Chapter and was Chairman of the Ford Motor Company Dispute Settlement Board.
After 35 years of working on cars, I still get out of bed excited to go to work and see what new lessons I will learn about how to fix cars.
However, nothing in my life has been a bigger blessing than my wife and children.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
A small business owner has to learn to be a man who wears many hats.
As I have aged, I realized that I have good understanding of what my responsibilities are and that I have a limited talent for addressing these various jobs.
Fixing cars is not stressful and in fact it is fun. As many of my friends have said to me, you spend a big part of your day doing work that has nothing to do with fixing cars.
I wish I could adapt better to those responsibilities.
I remind my employees that life is not about being perfect. It is about being the very best version of yourself everyday.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
For the last 10-15 years my business has centered around working on classic cars that date back to the 60’s-50’s-40’s-30’s. We no longer work on new cars. We are just a classic car repair and restoration business.
We fix problems with older cars and trucks offering a full line of services from repairs and body work to complete frame off restorations.
Our work is about taking a 50 year old vehicles and making dependable so our customers can enjoy them.
Most old cars do not always start and stop and preform like a new car so our work is very challenging.
We exert a lot of effort to make sure that when our customer takes his car home he can depend on it to start and run flawlessly so he can cruise and enjoy his relaxing ride.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up in a small town, I learned how to work. My main interest was about working at my grandfather’s dealership. Learning to work alone and with others has been a valuable asset throughout my career.
I was the average honorary student in high school. Played sports, had a girlfriend and spent spare time polishing or working on my car. My mother knew how to keep me very busy doing chores which kept me from getting in trouble.
Contact Info:
- Address: Wilson Auto Repair
3133 Saturn Road,
Garland, Texas 75041 - Website: www.wilsonauto.com
- Phone: 972-271-3579
- Email: wilsonautorepair@gmail.com
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