It was a circuitous route that in the end deposited Eric Kestner at the revered 34th Street Garage in Magnolia. But now Kestner will be taking over the day-to-day operations at the auto repair shop and street rod building company.
Owner Gene Mayer is stepping back so he can concentrate on restoring street rods from his new shop on Whidbey Island.
He will remain owner and fill in during Kestner's vacation time. The garage will keep its three technicians.
Kestner has always been wild about cars. He grew up in Issaquah and got his license and first car the day he turned 16.
"I was motivated," he said with a smile, standing behind the counter at the garage where technicians were busy behind him. Customers were filling the small lobby where the usual chairs, magazines and coffee awaited, as did a framed photo of Mayer holding aloft a freshly caught salmon.
Kestner's first car was a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, painted Acapulco Blue, with 289 cubic inches of engine rumbling under the hood. Kestner has gone through several cars since that day, some 30 years ago.
But at 34th Street, hot rods and classic cars are the norm, so it's not uncommon to see a pony-style Mustang up on the rack. In fact, he and Mayer were planning to haul a gutted 1967 Mustang up to Whidbey Island where Mayer will work on it at his new shop.
Mayer started 34th Street Garage in 1990, and had owned two shops before that, one in Mukilteo and another in Edmonds. He's been in the game for 38 years and has even taught automotive repair at the community college level. He has shown cars at the annual Magnolia Car Show, is known in car-repair circles and is a fixture in the Village. "He's a good guy," said Eric Bergge, owner of Werner's Crash Shop. Bergge organizes the car show and over the years has become colleagues with Mayer. "Gene has always stayed up on top of the changes in the industry. I was always impressed by that.”
Mayer is 62 and made the transition now because he wanted to slow down. It wasn’t for financial reasons. Despite the economy, the 34th Street Garage was doing just fine.
“My business is doing really well and financially, I can do this,” he said by phone from inside his new Whidbey Island shop.
Kestner started at 34th Street some 14 years ago where he worked for about a year. He switched to another shop across town before moving on to operate the Ballard Firestone for 12 years. Kestner's best customer there was Mayer. They had come to know each other better. And then Kestner decided to come back. "I apologized for quitting," Kestner said. "He said, 'OK, come on back' and I went back to where I should have stayed in the first place. I'm a happy guy." Everybody at 34th Street is a "motorhead," Kestner said. He and Mayer both race cars (Mayer’s first car was a midnight blue 1965 GTO with a stock 389 cubic inches engine) and Kestner is enjoying the smoother pace, working on seven to eight cars a day. He said Mayer had hired him with the intention of grooming him to learn the system, and that was a year ago. It appears to have been a good move for both of them.
[[In-content Ad]]