Grand Auto Body has opened a new garage in Garden City Park to do body work on high-end vehicles with what owner Brian Hogan described as state-of-the-art technologies.
“We’re pushing for exotics,” said Grand Auto Body owner Brian Hogan.
The new shop at 98 Denton Avenue is equipped to do body work on assorted high-ticket roadsters such as Bentleys, Lamborghinis, and Mercedes.
Hogan said he has invested $2 million in the facility, which includes three sophisticated lift machines called Car-o-Liner quick 42s, designed to enable mechanics to do detailed body work. The shop also includes a Lenco machine that expedites the process of pulling dents out of cars, Hogan said.
The 18,000-square-foot location will be large enough to enable work on 20 cars at a time. It includes a spray booth imported from Italy that can accommodate vehicles as large as stretch limousines, Hogan said.
“We did a major repair upgrade,” he said. “This is the newest of the new.”
The shop is currently doing work on a Bentley GT and doing a complete restoration job on a 1958 Corvette, Hogan said.
Hogan said the shop uses technology to allow plastic body welding, intended to reduce costs by eliminating the need to replace fenders and other body parts.
Hogan, 49, continues to maintain Grand Auto Body at 105 Herricks Road in Garden City Park as he has for the past 15 years. He’s carrying on a family tradition that began when his grandfather, William Benson, opened a repair shop in Queens in 1939.
His father, Joseph Hogan, worked with Brian’s grandfather in the 1940s and eventually opened his own shop, also called Grand Auto Body, on Jamaica Avenue in 1953.
In the new Denton Avenue facility, Hogan said he is using a computer system that gives mechanics the ability to scan the barcode on a car to get the vehicle identification number and access a menu of parts for that specific car. Parts are ordered using the computer system to avoid potential mistakes in receiving incorrect parts.
Hogan said the body shop also includes a sophisticated paint system that can determine the exact paint formula for any American, European or Asian car with two mixing rooms for the work.
The system also enables Grand Auto Body to transmit pictures of repair work in progress for customers and insurance companies. Hogan said that’s a feature of particular appeal to insurance carriers who can then verify work is being done on a particular vehicle.
Hogan said he’s also installing a 16-camera security system that will make it possible for customers to view their cars at any time. A customer will be able to log into the shop’s computer system, select a view of a car from the 16 images presented and zoom in to inspect work in progress.
“It’s their property. They’re a little more interested when the sticker price is $350,000,” Hogan said. “I want to show them it’s being treated the best it can be treated.”
A new member of the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, Hogan said he scouted several locations before selecting the one on Denton Avenue. He said the expansive space it offered in a location on a major thoroughfare were crucial factors in his decision, along with zoning considerations.
“To get a location that’s zoned for auto body work is rare,” he said.
Hogan said the new technologies at the shop and the security system he plans to install have favorably impressed several insurance companies who he’s hoping to secure as clients for referrals.
“It helps a start-up business,” Hogan said.
