Gold-plated service always on offer at The Surgery

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post

SITTING PRETTY: The Surgery owners Mike Baucke and Irene van de Coolwijk relax in a 1954 Armstrong Siddeley.

Tawa's Wall Place is a boulevard of butcher shops, and one surgery.

Trying to differentiate classic car restoration company The Surgery from its neighbouring panelbeaters is as easy as walking through the tidy workshop – a veritable museum experience in itself.

Owners Mike Baucke and Irene van de Coolwijk have run the business for more than 20 years, and Mr Baucke remembers a few classics they have worked on, and almost worked on.

Hugh Hefner's 1983 Rolls-Royce Phantom came through The Surgery, before the Playboy don bought it back from its temporary Kiwi owner.

The Sultan of Brunei had arranged to bring John Lennon's old Mercedes Pullman stretch limousine to Tawa for a refit before the purchase fell through.

While half of The Surgery's business comes from overseas, including an Indonesian client who sent his 1958 Daimler and an 1954 Armstrong Siddeley down to have gold-plated interiors, cocktail cabinets and running water installed, Mr Baucke is careful not to rely on the fancy jobs.

"When we are getting work from all over the world I think whatever we are doing, we are doing it right. But it is very easy to lose track of your local customers."

Turning down a request to work exclusively for a Japanese family, who would fly in from Osaka to meet the team at The Surgery, meant forgoing serious revenue, but it was not the right fit, Mr Baucke says. From a one-man outfit when it started in the 1980s, The Surgery has tripled its floor space, employs six full-time staff and needs another, but has never left Wall Place.

With about $800,000 annual turnover its best year, in 2009, Mr Baucke says the continuity of his business is the golden mark of the classic car industry.

The Surgery's 10-year guarantee – "If they come back in 15 years, we'll still fix it for free," Mr Baucke says – is testament to the fact that it is as reliable as the antique vehicles it rebuilds and repairs.

Service is the key, and one of the reasons The Surgery turns away scores of job applicants for a select few, who can often be on the team for 10-plus years. Job details, quotes and customer details are shared openly with the team, so that when customers turn up for an update anyone can fill them in.

The panelbeating industry has lagged behind in recognising the importance of service, Mr Baucke says, unlike other areas of the motor trade which have managed to shake the monosyllabic grease monkey stereotype.

"There has been a recession apparently, and the first thing that drops is service. Why? That's the side you can still hold up [when business gets tough]."

Even after two decades of accolades turning rusty antiques into polished art pieces, The Surgery has not forgotten its station.

"We just keep going because you are only as good as your last job."

- © Fairfax NZ News