History, as histories go, can be boring.  Hopefully, throwing in some fond personal memories from our fearless leader, Jim Addison, will help spice things up. 

Major Step 1
"I guess I got into this business by accident. In 1973, I graduated from DU with a degree in Psychology. Every job I interviewed for had 25 other liberal arts majors interviewing along with me, so when I discovered a parts department opening at the Saab dealer, I took it. That was March 1973. In September 1973, the parts manager got angry, threw a peanut machine across the office, and quickly got promoted to parts manager."

Major Step 2
"After being in a partnership for 2 years I ventured out on my own. The business really began when I serviced and repaired Saabs in our garage. While my wife, Brenda, worked I was in charge of our youngest daughter, Bree.  I would sit Bree in her car seat, place a tasty morsel in her hand and she would, most times, happily wait for me to finish my work.  Hence her nickname, Easy Breezy."

1982: Shortly after this small-scale enterprise began, we purchased and renovated a building. We called our new business the SAAB SHOP. Those were golden years for Saab. We grew to three Saab mechanics within three years and built an addition.

1986: With the addition, we had room for four mechanics, so we added Volvo. Our first name change was to SWEDISH AUTOMOTIVE.

1991: We purchased the property we are currently located (2005 S. Holly Street) and began doing body repair on a small scale. Our plan was to build a new facility as soon as we were ready. Training began, in earnest, to include all aspects of business development.

1995: With future increase capacity and on advice from others in the industry, we chose to begin working on Honda, Toyota, Subaru, and Nissan. We once again changed our name to
SWEDISH ASIAN AUTOMOTIVE.

1999: Our facility was completed and, hopefully for the final time, changed our name to ADDISON AUTO CENTER. Our services have expanded to include domestic repair and service.

1999:  Our body shop was incorporated into our shop because Jim Addison noticed a fair share of poor quality bodywork on our customer's vehicles.  Often collision repairing requires a mechanical technician's expertise to get the vehicle back to pre-accident condition.  We focused on adding collision repair as part of the businss model of services and our new facililty accomodates all three.

2003:  We remodeled the shop area for greater efficiency.  The collision business has grown in the new location.  We moved all the lifts and added 5 collision bays.  Investing in periodic revamping of the shop areas, and production systems are necessary to improve quality and production to meet ever changing repair needs.

2007:  Our office received a complete remodel opening new work areas for both departments.  The space allows for more privacy for the employees and customers.

2008:  We were sad to see our murals go, but our front building, housing our paint department, turned out looking like new!

"YOUR ONE-STOP AUTO SHOP SINCE 1982!"