Making the image fit the quality

Shop Profile

Making the image fit the quality

Caboolture Crash Repairs in Queensland had the skills but not the looks ? until it employed a building designer to bring the appearance up to the mark.
Milton Gunst started Caboolture Crash Repairs in 1993 when he took over a tired looking building in Machinery Parade Caboolture. Originally a spray painter and later a panel beater he'd moved on to being a professional shop manager for some time when he decided to go out on his own. But he believed he lacked three essentials: a partner, more space and a building that reflected the skill levels going on inside it.
The partner came along in the person of Ian Wust in 1995. Wust had begun as a panel beater and then learned painting. With multi skills on both sides, the partnership prospered.
The company was able to buy the building next door in Machinery Parade ? which gave it the double the space and provided the work flow it needed. But the appearance suffered even more because the buildings clashed in appearance.
The partners then enlisted the help of Brindles Design Gallery, a local interior and exterior stylist, to come up with some solutions. The result was a broad portico in front of reception where customers and assessors could be accommodated. New facades on the front of the buildings pulled them into a modern, consistent style.
Reception was remodelled to continue the blue and grey theme through to the interior, with the use of corrugated iron and painted board panels. Offices were fitted in neatly with the monolith theme of reception, and a meeting room was built at the back of the office.
The company currently employs around 23 people. Of those, six are panel beaters, five are painters, one is a detailer and three are in the office. With no less than six apprentices, Caboolture Crash has one of the highest training ratios in Australia.
Equipment includes two Auto Robots, DuPont refinish, three booths (one OlymIn keeping with Queensland's climate, the shop is open and airy, using roller doors where its southern counterparts would have walls.
Caboolture Crash Repairs illustrates the importance of presentation for car owners and their insurers. The shop gets work from NRMA, AAMI and RACQ and it repairs mostly family sedans, turning out around 25 cars a week ? depending on the complexity of reapirs.