Bart graduated from High School and moved on to college. His folks always wanted him to be a Doctor, but that didn't work out. He transferred to a small college in Nebraska where he earned a BA in English. While at college, Bart met two "car crazy" guys, one from New York, the other from North Carolina. When they graduated, they all went home to decide what to do next. A few months later, the buddy from NY called Bart to tell him about a fabulous place to work - Herrington Motors in Montgomery, NY. The place was packed full of sports cars! This sounded great to Bart, so it was off to NY. That was in 1972. Unfortunately, that didn't last. Then came the idea to start their own car repair shop. The guy from North Carolina had earned a degree in accounting - perfect! A technician, an accountant, and a PR man! Let's go! That's how Elf Motor Works was born. Pretty soon, they were working on VWs, Jags, MGs, and anything old and foreign that came their way.
This is Bart with his sister Anne and partner John at one of Elf Motor Works' locations in Orange County, NY.
After a year or so, Bart was the only one left at Elf Motor Works. After having several locations around the county, he decided in 1984 he'd had enough. The hours were long, the pay was never going to make him a millionaire, and he needed more time for himself. Bart decided to take a job at a BMW dealership and became a certified technician. By the time he retired in 1997, he was a certified, master technician of BMW, Alfa Romeo, and Volvo.
Of course while he worked for others, his previous customers kept insisting that no one else could take care of their sports cars so he took work in at home. He just couldn't keep his hands off of those vintage sports cars. Bart did take every opportunity to go auto crossing, drive in time trials, and plan and run road rallies.
Bart enhanced a 2002 with Weber side drafts, 5 speed tranny, Bilestein suspension, 14" wheels, etc. He and Carolyn both ran it at time trials and auto crosses.The little time he had left, he got involved in helping friends build race cars to run in SCCA events.
A spectator at one of the races requisitioned Bart to convert his BMW 2002 into a race car. When the car was completed, Bart of course was the crew chief at the races.
This brought to the foreground another dream! Bart wanted to vintage race his 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye! He finally decided that it was time to work on his dream, so he dropped most of his other "patients" and started working on the Bugeye. By 1996, it was ready to race - thus the # 96.
With all of this, did he have time for himself? Very little, but every spare minute he had was spent reading everything he could get his hands on about his first love - vintage sports cars!
Bart and his wife, Carolyn, retired to Northeast Georgia in 1997. Bart had no intentions of going back into business, he just wanted to go vintage racing and read. After about two months, boredom settled in and he needed to get back to his cars. He took a job at a local shop where they worked on older cars - not all vintage, but that was OK. In 1998 a friend and former employee, Len Norris, moved down looking for work. He convinced Bart that the two of them should open a shop strictly for vintage sports cars. As Bart was already renting a large building for storage and part time work on his cars, they had a perfect spot. That's where it all started again.
Bart had met a "car nut" who needed work done on a Bugeye. As this customer was a member of an Atlanta sports car club, the word soon spread that Bart was the guy to see if you owned any kind of sports car. Today, Bart is considered an expert in his field and draws customers from all over Northeast Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and folks from places like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan who have ties in Georgia.
Bart's shop is a mom and pop business, and he likes it that way. It allows him to offer personalized, precision care for your car. If you are in the market for a car, Bart is always willing to make suggestions as to what to avoid. If it's possible to get the car to the shop, he will inspect it and truthfully tell you if you're getting a good deal. He's also willing to tell you if it is a car he would not be willing to work on. Bart and Carolyn both treat their customers like family and plan to continue to do just that.
