Lee and Thomas end long era in location | Video

The country music star’s purple Fairlane had broken down. He pulled into the rear of Auburn Street auto-electrical business Lee and Thomas to have the alternator fixed.

“We said ‘can you leave the car with us a little while?’ He said he couldn’t because he was doing a show at the Workers Club and was only here for one day. Jack Wilson (who worked there) was a mad keen Slim Dusty fan and before I had time to fill out the job card he had two boys under the bonnet. The king was given the royal treatment,” Mr Baxter, a part owner, said.

Then there was the time singer Jimmy Little’s Toyota broke down at the traffic lights and needed a new alternator, and when Bunney Brooke, who played Flo Patterson in Number 96, popped into the shop.

Memories are flooding back about the location Lee and Thomas has occupied for 64 years. By mid-March the well known local business will be moving to spacious new premises on the corner of Oxley and Robinson Streets. 

As part owner Dave Handley explained: “We’ve outgrown the place.” 

The business regularly fills a block purchased at the rear with cars to be repaired. In addition, access to a rear lane has been restricted since approval of a Hungry Jacks outlet nearby.

The move may end a long time in the one location but the tradition will live on. Lee and Thomas was established in 1920 by friends and World War Two ex-servicemen, George Lee and N Thomas. It started in Verner Street in a recently demolished former butcher’s shop and later moved to 51 Bradley Street. During the Depression the building was split into two and George Lee bought one half. He employed his son, Eric Tom Sotheran and Bill Watson, all WWII ex-servicemen.  

The three eventually purchased the firm in 1955. So started a pattern whereby employees eventually bought into the business. It was the same in 1984 when Jack Wilson, Ken Cumberland and Carl Stewart purchased the firm.

Mr Baxter started there in 1981 as a 16-year-old.

“I initially wanted to be a motor mechanic but the next best thing was selling spare parts. My first day here was a bit daunting. The business was very rundown when Jack, Ken and Carl bought it but they built it up,” he said.

Mr Baxter said he loved the daily challenge. The firm had also grown from a basic auto electrical service to servicing earthmoving equipment as far away as Canberra and selling a multitude of parts. Today Lee and Thomas employs 11 people and has three working partners, including Craig Marshall.

Mr Handley started working there 30 years ago and bought Ken Cumberland’s share in 2001.

“I always loved cars,” he said.

“I did work experience here while I was at school and then an apprenticeship.”

Each day Mr Handley pops next door to check on longtime neighbour and Goulburn’s favourite son, Allan ‘Jockey’ Rudd.’ 

“We’ve become good friends and we’re going to miss him,” Mr Handley said.

Mr Rudd has lived in the house for 60 years and remembers numerous past owners and employees.

“There have been lots of changes and I’ll miss them very much. If ever things go wrong, they’re in to fix it. They’re very good to me,” he said.

Mr Handley described it as a sad end of an era but the start of an exciting new one.