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Under the hood
(by Julia Werner - January 20, 2010)
Hidden just off Laurel Street in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood is a sturdy old building constructed with genuine World’s Fair bricks. Blink and you could miss it, but Weber Auto Service is considered a landmark by the family who works there.
Raymond Weber, now retired, was 26 and fresh out of the service when he became his father’s business partner. They had just moved from an auto shop in north St. Louis to the current building at 5822 McPherson Court where they’ve been for almost 55 years, doing body work and car storage.
“We didn’t know they existed back there,” said new client Candace O’Connor.
She discovered them shortly after a tree fell and crushed the hood of her car. Her neighbor suggested Weber Auto Service, which is only a few blocks from her home.
“We wanted to support a business in our neighborhood and we just really liked them,” O’Connor said. “They were just nice people…and they did an excellent job.”
Though Ray Weber is retired, he’s still at the shop every day while his two adult children, Ray Jr. and Terri, now work on the cars that come in.
“I love it, it’s been in my blood since I was a little kid,” Terri Weber said. “I always wanted to come over and help Dad on Saturdays.”
She recalls her childhood fondly, watching her father and grandfather work around the shop and getting an allowance to sweep and play with the dog.
“I’m a total motorhead,” Terri Weber laughed. “I’m a girl that had more cars than any guy ever had. Guys were always jealous because I knew more about automobiles than they did. That’s the way we were taught. If you don’t know how to check your oil and if you don’t know where the radiator’s at or how to back a car up, you shouldn’t be driving.”
For a small family-owned shop like Weber’s, knowing the business and loving what you do is essential, especially in times like these. The Webers have seen many changes, good and bad, in their neighborhood and have endured hardships in their business as well, but they continue to persevere.
“It’s keeping your head above water and just praying,” Terri Weber said.
Another quality all the Webers seem to share is a positive attitude. They are completely dedicated to the shop and have no intention of selling, moving or slowing down. There are just too many memories in the McPherson building.
For instance, there was a night watchman back in the 1960s who fell asleep on the job and was awoken at 1 in the morning to a car just outside the office starting by itself.
“It scared the bejeebers out of him,” Terri Weber said. “He thought there was a ghost in here.”
The ghost turned out to be a malfunctioning solenoid wire that had started the car accidentally. There is also a break in the brick pattern on the second floor where someone reversed through the side of the building.
“What had happened, the car, a little sports car…he [the garage attendant] was backing it up and he thought he had his foot on the brake but he had it on the gas,” Ray Weber recalled. “He steps on the gas and the harder he pushed the faster the car went. Through the wall he went, landed upside-down.”
The building, just over a century old, has a definite personality. What it lacks in modern embellishments it makes up for with antiquity.
“It’s just a charming old building,” O’Connor said.
A shining moment in Weber’s history was back in 1991, when they received a plaque for outstanding service for storing cars for the U.S. Marshals. Another fun fact is that until 1962, Weber also stored cars for neighborhood owners who didn’t have garages, then would wash and return them the next morning.
These days the Webers get their customers mostly through referrals, although they do advertise through the yellow pages, the Internet and church bulletins. They also do a lot of business with Washington University students.
“Businesswise we’ve done really good, you know, but things are slow right now,” Terri Weber said.
Although in the past they’ve hired outside help, currently it’s just the three of them operating the shop, and that’s just fine with them.
“I’m just very lucky that I can spend every day with my father,” Terri Weber said.
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