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About Me
Hi, I'm Caroline. Below is some info about me and my career in the garage industry to date. I have had a fascination with cars for as long as I can remember and as a teenager, was more likely to be found reading What Car than Smash Hits! At 14 I could quote the 0-60 time of every production car available in the UK, how sad is that?! My Dad always had old Triumphs and I used to love helping him tinker with them. For my 16th birthday I was given a Triumph Dolomite as a minor restoration project and with Dad's help and a Haynes manual, managed to get it on the road. Despite it breaking down on a monthly basis, I loved that car! However, a career in the garage trade wasn't considered an option and instead I went into marketing. Following the birth of my two sons I opted for a career change and trained as a trampoline and gymnastics instructor. I still teach 14 classes a week, which keeps me pretty fit and I have recently started competing again at regional level. My passion for cars never left me, nor did the belief that the many aspects of the motor industry could be better run. Some freelance marketing work for a company who imported Japanese sports cars gave me my first 'inside view' of customer service within car sales and I was not impressed! Resolutely believing I could offer a much better service, I researched the market in detail and began importing to order. Not satisfied that I had enough mechanical knowledge about the cars I was selling, I approached the owner of the garage that carried out my mechanical work and asked if I could spend time there to learn more. He agreed and my hours gradually increased leading to paid employment there and my eventual qualification as an MoT tester. During the summer months I had the pleasure of testing many classic cars from the nearby Wensum Classics garage. Several discussions with its owner and the departure of his managing director led to him offering me the chance to run the whole outfit. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance! 'Getting back to basics' and working on the cars I had grown up with was a great thrill, as was the challenge of running a garage. Having full restoration facilities including a purpose built spray bay meant I was able to begin to learn about the bodywork side of the industry. During the summer of 2004 my youngest son was run over by a car on his way home from school. Thankfully his injuries were not fatal but it was a life changing experience and I resigned from Wensum to stay at home nurse him back to health. I used the extra time now available to develop Caroline's Cars and thanks to the owners of a few local garages, I worked freelance and rented workshop space to provide services to my expanding customer base. Working within these different garages also allowed me to further increase my mechanical and bodywork knowledge. (Thanks guys, I owe you!) When the owner of Wensum Classics decided to close the business and offered to let me rent the premises, it was perfect timing and Caroline's Cars was ready to offer first class service in every aspect of the garage trade. Both my own observations over the years and feedback from predominantly but not exclusively female customers, expressing frustration at their lack of knowledge; has led me to write a syllabus for a course in basic motor vehicle technology. I intend to develop this to provide information and education suitable for various ages and levels of experience. I firmly believe that such knowledge will help to reduce fraudulent activity and the intimidation factor unfortunately still present within the garage trade. I live in a quaint Norfolk market town with my two sons Andy and Matt. In my spare time (when I get any!), I like to trampoline and play my piano and saxophone. My younger son Matt loves to help me take cars to bits and is getting better at putting them back together and my eldest son Andy loves them for their looks and performance!
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This site is maintained by Stephen Huntington |
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