Mechanic – Car

Jennifer Loicht

Dennis Booth has had one job since he left school 52 years ago.

He started working at his dad’s car dealership in Ashfield aged 14 and is still there, though he now owns the business.

“We used to have pre-War Chevrolets – they were all the go in the 1950s, but then second-hand Holdens started coming [in] and Dad got into buying and selling them,” says Booth.

“I was his mechanic. We were one of the few car dealers that would fix a car properly if there was something wrong. Then the people would come back years later and trade the car in on a later model.”

Booth says his role in the now service-based business, which is called O.N.Booth after his dad, Oliver Norman, hasn’t changed much over the years.

His duties include doing oil and filter changes, brake and clutch repairs, and some auto electrical work on all makes and models.

“I’m not doing much panelbeating and spraypainting now — we focus on mechanical work,” he says. “Every day is different. I have a lot of customers now [who] come back to me with their early -model Holdens because there’s not too many mechanics left who know how to repair them.

“When you look back, some things haven’t changed that much [with cars]. They’ve still got four wheels. They have improved things with disc brakes – that’s one thing that’s really gone ahead but a lot of things are still reasonably basic.

“Generally you can follow your nose when you’re a mechanic.”

When he’s not working, Booth and his wife, Lyn, who works with him part-time in the office, have nine cars of their own, including a 1941 Chev truck that once belonged to Oliver, to keep them busy.

Six of the cars are registered while three are yet to be done up and Booth also has “a couple of wrecks” he uses for parts.

The newest addition to the family is a “very pretty” 1958 FC Holden wagon. “It’s beige and tan but they call it terracotta,” he says.

Although Booth was happy enough to follow in his father’s footsteps and clearly lives and breathes cars today, he wasn’t always so passionate about them.

“When I finished school, Dad said ‘What are you going to do now?’ and I said ‘I don’t know’, so he said ‘Come and give us a hand here for a bit’ and that was the end of that,” Booth laughs. “I’ve been here ever since.

“Much to my wife’s disgust, I’m very happy in my work. She’s trying to get me to retire but she’s just as naughty as me, really, because she wanted me to buy this ’58 wagon so now I have a fair bit of work. The paint the previous people put on is starting to fall off so I’ve got to sand all that down and respray it.”

Love your work

How did you get into your job?
I left school at 14 and did my apprenticeship. I got the highest marks in the state for my final exam. I also did a course in panelbeating and spraypainting.

Upside: Getting a car to run correctly and very nice customers. Most are friends.

Downside: Figuring out what needs to be repaired. There’s nothing worse than fixing something that doesn’t need it.