In 1948 when his father and grandfather built the Waimapu Garage, Michael Smith was only a twinkle in his parents' eyes.
Mr Smith's father was finishing his apprenticeship in Tauranga and worked from his father's work shed about half a mile down the road from the garage, Mr Smith said.
"They built
the garage first then gradually built the building then moved in.
"You could say I was born into [the business] because when I was a baby it was the only place I could sleep in my pram."
The Waimapu Garage has been in business since and been passed down from father to son.
Third-generation owner Michael Smith has run the garage for the past 24 years with his wife Janet. However after a lifetime of serving others on the forecourt, Mr and Mrs Smith have sold the family business to pursue other dreams. "I never worked for my father, I worked for Motor Specialties, now Repco, for 16 years then bought the business off my parents in 1986," he said.
During this time Mr Smith said he had many fond memories and made a number of good friends with their many regular customers.
He couldn't pick a favourite moment as there had been too many.
He and his wife spent the past two days at the garage with the new owners, local residents Wayne and Deirdre Sowry, showing them the ropes.
Mrs Smith said it was bittersweet saying goodbye to the business but the time was right to move on. She said the new owners were "very enthusiastic".
"I'm confident they will carry on from what we've left off and it looks like things will continue without too much disruption.
"And that makes me happy to be able to move on, knowing things will continue."
Mr Smith said the new owners were well suited for the job as they had plenty of business experience. He said they were "good at what they do" and were "very good with people" - two essential traits.
While it was sad to see the end of an era, Mr Smith said he was looking forward to having a break and spending time with family.
