Race car driver returns for Goulburn Geissler Motors reunion

Organiser Steve Ruddell said most eras of the well known car dealership were represented at the Goulburn Golf Club function.

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Race car driver, Fred Geissler, was a special guest. His father, Bert, founded the then Auburn Street business in 1957.

Fred Geissler junior, now 74, said his father was a "big presence" in the business, which over the years forged the careers of hundreds of people. The dealership, formerly located on the Target site had mechanics, sales people, an associated spray paint shop at the rear, detailing, and later operated the NRMA roadside service.

Mr Geissler was born and educated in Goulburn, moved to Sydney for a time, but returned to manage Geissler Motors from 1970 to 1980.

"At one time, Geissler Motors had 50 per cent of the Goulburn market, with all its (Holden) vehicles made in Australia," he said.

At that time, there were 60 people working there.

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Mr Geissler successfully competed on the national motor racing circuit, including at Bathurst and Oran Park, from 1979 to 1986. He splits his time between Moss Vale and Sydney and still races cars.

Former service manager, Darrell Chambers, said Fred Geissler's racing prowess was a boon for the business.

"When the VB Commodore came out in 1979, we made a big thing out of it," he said.

"It absolutely landed in the Goulburn market. Having a local bloke like Fred racing the cars we sold really made an impact."

In 1993, Mr Chambers brought race car driver, Peter Brock, to town for an Institute of Australian Automotive Engineers trade night at the Goulburn Workers Club. Mr Chambers was AIME secretary at the time. Local businesses Hill and Co and the Civic Service Centre also assisted.

Some 400 people attended and flocked for Brock's autograph.

He described Fred as a "lovely bloke" who mixed well with his employees and continued a sense of camaraderie, started by his father and uncle.

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Mr Chambers worked with the Geissler family and after a break, returned to the business from 1990 to 2002 as service manager under Rod and Susie Owens' ownership.

"Geissler Motors really stood tall in the Goulburn market," he said.

"We were all going in the same direction, turned up to do out job and had a good time along the way."

Mr Chambers said it was a privilege to work with the likes of long-serving employees, Keith Harvey and George Walcott.

Both men, now in their eighties, attended the reunion.

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Mr Harvey had two stints, from 1958 to 1973 and from 1985 to 1998, the latter as workshop foreman. When he first started, the business had less than 10 employees. Later, Mr Harvey operated his own successful mechanics business.

Mr Walcott started in 1959 as a panel beater, where he worked for two years. In 1961, Geisslers gave him a shed at the rear where he started his own panel beating business. From then until he retired in 2000, he did all of Geisslers work.

Geissler Motors was sold again in 2007 and the Auburn Street premises demolished soon after. The Target building now occupies the site. Geissler Motors is now located in new premises on Finlay Road.

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