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Meet Tom Calloway

At the age of 8, Tom Calloway became a mechanic by repairing bicycles for children in his neighborhood. He has been a mechanic ever since. Today he is a Master Mechanic.

In his teens, Tom best friend’s father would teach him to work on his car to give him hands on experience… and to keep his hands clean!

After graduating from high school, Tom had to make a decision on what direction to take in life. “I wanted to do something I was good at, would enjoy to retirement and had a passion for. That was working on cars.” He went to vocational school and trained to become a mechanic.

In the 1970’s Tom worked at a Ford dealership where he gained plenty of opportunity to “Fix Or Repair Daily.” The occasional European car that came through the shop, gave him his first exposure to European cars. It was then he first discovered the joy of working on German cars. He was challenged by their sophistication and developed an appreciation for their intricate nature and their advanced technology. Being the only mechanic in the shop interested in working on European cars gave him the on-the-job-training with Euro-cars that his vocational training had lacked.

“European cars seem to be 10 years ahead of the technology of domestic cars. My decision to work exclusively on European cars was driven by a desire to stay ahead of the curve. They give me a great mental exercise, plus the satisfaction of repairing them.”

In 1982 he became the Service Manager at a Lincoln Mercury dealership, a position he held until he started his own business in 1990. This is where he learned that the Customer was as important as the vehicle - a lesson he was to take to heart. But he missed the hands-on mechanical work and decided to open his own shop where he could work on the types of cars he enjoyed the most - German cars.

Disappointed with the bureaucracy of dealerships that isolated the Customers from the mechanics, Tom created a different type of service environment when he opened his own shop: “My Customers walk into my office and speak to me directly. And I am the person who will be servicing their car. There is no middle man. In the process, they learn that I have a real passion for European cars. They know that I will take good care of theirs.”

BMW

Mercedes Benz

Audi

Volkswagen

Master Mechanic

Calloway European Automotive, Inc., 6117-B Clark Center Ave, Sarasota, FL 34238, tel 941-921-2575