Gary Larson started Larson Collision Center in 1987; he and his body men have spent the past number of decades building a reputation in the auto body world and around Salem. Before opening Larson Collision Center, he attended Linn Tech from 1973 to 1975 to study auto body, he tried his hand in the alternator generator business in a lawn mower shop and ended up working in a lead mine from 1980 to 1986, until one day they told their workers not to come back. "That was when AMAX sold to Homestake," said Larson. "I came out of the mine on a midnight shift and they said don't come back," said Larson. The mine was closed.
"It was scary, having two little kids at home and no job," said Larson. (His daughters were born in 1983 and 1984.)
The following year was when he went into business for himself. Larson spoke fondly of his wife Shirley’s support. "If it weren’t for her, it wouldn't have been possible. We had two small children at the time.
Larson continues to be grateful for the support from his wife, Shirley. "My wife was very much into helping me do this,” said Larson.
She couldn't work here because we needed the other income, but my wife was a big asset in me being able to work here," he said.
In the early days it was Larson and Nathan Headrick who worked there for 25 years before switching his focus to his own endeavors. "There were weeks we shared $200, we didn't make a lot of money starting out," he said.
Things have gotten a lot better since then and times continue to change as the business that Larson started continues to thrive.
"The key to a good business is hiring qualified technicians," said Larson. "And you'll know them by their work, if they're qualified," he said. Larson spoke with pride in his voice when speaking of one technician he hired almost 30 years ago,
"And Richard is pretty particular, he can tell instantly when he looks at something whether he's going to be able to do it or not," said Larson.
Larson was speaking of his successor, Richard Wilson who has worked at the body shop since the summer of 1992—the summer before his senior year of high school in Salem.
"Richard has been more like a son to me than an employee. I never had a boy and Richard was born the year that I graduated high school," said Larson. "I've known him since he was a little kid. He grew up over there in the neighborhood that I lived in," he said.
Over the years, Wilson took on more and more responsibility at the collision center.
“Richard, if he would have left the body shop—let’s just say it like this—it’s hard to replace body men in today's world—there's just not a lot of them out there that want to do it anymore," said Larson.
“They’re a dying breed,” Wilson agreed with a nod.
Once Larson was elected to serve as the district two county commissioner, Wilson began managing the shop on the days that Larson was out.
"In the days I've been gone for the last 13 years, he's been running the shop," said Larson. "It's made it easier for him to step in there."
Wilson said that it made the transition easier for him.
"Richard got to talking about wanting to do his own thing, and I was reaching an age where I needed to slow down anyway,” Larson said that’s why he decided to sell the business to Wilson.
“I still serve as commissioner, I'll doing that for another three years. I’ve still got plenty to do there,” said Larson.
Larson attributes his initial interest in bodywork to his brother-in-law Dave Wells and his body shop. "He used to let me come down there and hangout. I even went to work for him after school like Richard did with me here," said Larson. That’s where Larson discovered his passion for cars, which is something that he and Wilson share.
“It really is a passion,” said Wilson. "You just got to have a passion for it, and I guess I did," said Wilson. And you can tell he still does by the way his eyes glow when he talks about his work.
"Richard's a car fanatic—like we all are. It’s in your blood, really,” said Larson.
"I love tinkering, I love the mechanics of the vehicle and curiosity—you've got to have a curiosity to want to do things. If you take stuff apart, you're curious as to how it works,” said Wilson. “And that's my thing, I want to see how it works. Why it does, what it does, or why it's not doing what it's supposed to be doing," he said.
For Wilson, his work is fulfilling.
"You get a certain satisfaction in taking something that other people would have considered totaled and rebuilding it and making a very good vehicle out of it," said Wilson.
Wilson thinks that it says something about a shop’s confidence in its work if the person doing the work actually drives and trusts a vehicle that they worked on. "Let's say that you have a vehicle that was wrecked. Knowing that we trust our work and would put our families into something that we repair, you're going to feel more comfortable putting yours in it," he said.
"I have a 2019 F-350, right now, that I rebuilt. It's a good truck and it was a totaled out vehicle," said Wilson.
According to Wilson, while they are proud of their work, they are humble enough about their title.
“It all depends on where you're at,” said Wilson. According to him, around here “body man” is sufficient. “You get into a bigger town you're a ‘collision technician’. They’ve got to throw that ‘technician’ in there, you know," said Wilson.
"To get technical, at some of your bigger body shops in bigger towns, you're looking at frame technicians, body technicians," said Wilson, trailing off. "But here each body man will do a job start to finish," he said.
Currently, along with Wilson, Richard “Doogie” Overby (whose work both Larson and Wilson praise) still works at the body shop and Rachel Carnell (who Larson and Wilson gave equally kind words to) operates administrative duties at the front desk. Both of whom are, according to Wilson, valuable assets to his business.
"You always strive in business—and I continue to strive as hard as I can to repair a customer's vehicle in a timely manner and make it safe," said Wilson. "So that the customer has no worries once it rolls out the door."
"Can you make people happy all the time?" Larson said rhetorically. "You can't. I will say this about Richard, if he gets a customer who's upset, he handles it very professionally—he doesn't get mad at the customer. And I've done the same thing—you sit there and take the chewing," he said.
"Dent County has been good to me," said Larson. Larson spoke into his reasoning to start changing his focus to his work as commissioner years back.
“Dent County has served me well and I wanted to serve back to the community," said Larson. "It’s been a good place to raise a family and a good place to live."
"I wouldn't trade this town for any other," said Wilson. "I mean, this is my home town and I was raised here in Salem and Dent County. I have no plans of going anywhere. This is my town and this is where I'm going to stay," he said. "I'll continue to serve in this industry and I appreciate the people here being good to this business. I'm going to continue the service, I'm going to carry on."
"It's kind of bittersweet. I'm happy that I'm getting to retire, but I'm kind of sad about leaving a business I've started," said Larson.
However, Larson said this doesn't mean he won't be hanging around the shop from time to time. "I finally have time to work on my own cars," he said. "I've got 10 cars I want to work on. I might be able to get them done before I get too old," he said.
"If you get to drive them once, it'll be worth it," said Wilson to Larson.
"I'm going to be in and out and around—unless he just puts a sign up that says no Larson allowed," Larson jested; to which Wilson chuckled.
"You never know what the future will hold," said Wilson. "I'm going to strive to be part of it and to be in business and to be part of the future of Dent County," he said. "I don't know what else I'd do. I dedicated my career to this one single field."
Larson is proud that the window that once bore his name now bears Wilson's.
"I couldn't have left my business in better hands," said Larson.
"During my term at the wheel taking care of it, there's going to be further advancements," said Wilson. "It's a constant learning experience on vehicles because no two are the same—different manufactures have different ways."
"It's a challenge and I like a challenge," said Wilson.
Wilson Collision Center, formerly known as Larson Collision Center, is located at 503 N. McArthur.
