“Drive it ‘til the wheels fall off” isn’t the safest decision. So when does it end?
Back Away from the Wrenches
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GARAGE GALLERY
Photo gallery: Auto repair (and a few motorcyclists) in Indianapolis, Indiana
Shop Press Staff Photographer Mike Apice recently visited Franklin, Indiana and the surrounding area. Once the focus of a Life magazine article depicting the idyllic “Smalltown, USA,” Franklin is as photogenic now as it was then. Here’s a look around from his perspective.
The tail fins of a ’59 Chevy caught Mike’s eye, where he soon found Ken’s Auto Electric, a family-owned business. Ken was walking about the place, and his oldest son was at the counter when Mike strolled in.
Ken’s second-youngest son was working in a bay, providing a slice of life in a shop that’s been operating for years. One of Ken’s techs showed off his rack of 10mm sockets, insurance against that little guy that always seems to go missing when you need it most. The tools, like the Chevy, have changed a bit over the years, but the mission of the business—getting customers back on the road—never does.
Franklin, shown in the left photo, is a suburb of Indianapolis. The two locations are separated by a half-hour drive, and the flavor of the city permeates the suburb. While meandering through Indy, Mike caught a couple of people filming a hip-hop video. He ventured on and came across Morgantown, another suburb, home to Whitaker Auto, a multi-generational family-owned business that’s been operating for nearly a hundred years.
In another anachronistic juxtaposition of the modern and antique, Apice found himself amidst the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, a charity motorcycle event where riders in dapper dress climb aboard classic, classically-styled, and custom motorcycles to raise funds for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health. Like Franklin and Morgantown as compared with the Circle CIty, new and old live cheek-by-jowl.
And right before completing his journey, Mike had the serendipity to bring an OE FIX™ guide highlighting Dorman cam phaser testing into the bays at Franklin Auto Care just as the mechanic there was replacing a set in a GM Ecotec engine. A fitting end to the journey, wouldn’t you say? Mike finished up his trip watching some Dorman parts getting installed and getting back on the road, headed home—just as the owner of the car did!