About Us
Herb McEwen, owner of HJM Auto and Tire Ltd., immigrated to Edmonton from Rhodesia in 1976. With an extensive history in automotive repair, he spent four years working for an independent auto service firm in Edmonton. Then, he partnered with his brother to start their own facility called T&H Auto Repair.
McEwen later decided to escape the Edmonton cold and went to work with Middlegate Honda in Vancouver, where he worked for two years, followed by five years with White Rock Honda.
Yearning to get back into the business for himself and hearing from a friend about a shop in Victoria, led McEwen to his 880 Pandora location. The building was a Texaco station in the early 1950s and had been vacant for a year. The timing was right for McEwen and he was able to start HJM Auto & Tire Centre Ltd.
"I hired my nephew, Steve Quick, another mechanic and away we went," recalls McEwen. "We've built our business on keeping the quality of work right, taking the time to understand what the vehicle complaints are, and being able to repair the described problems. Good service can't be done without good conscientious staff." McEwen adds, "Our staff are constantly upgrading their skills and the company is continuously adding new equipment to stay on the leading edge of the industry. We work on all domestic and foriegn vehicles and have also developed a specialty niche market in repairing Japanese imports such as Honda, Mazda, and Toyota to mention three."
"Part of our advantage is that the customer talks to the person who's actually fixing the car," points out McEwen. "When customers bring in their vehicles for a regular maintenance, we pay attention to the overall condition of the car. For example, if the vehicle requires an oil change or lubrication, we'll check other components as well to ensure overall safety. There's nothing worse than having your car break down in the middle of the night with a broken radiator hose as the result of it not being checked during a regular maintenance schedule."
HJM Auto & Tire Centre has six bays, lots of free parking, and currently runs with a staff of three. Herb McEwen has left a lasting impact on the legacy of his late father's hard work in the automotive industry.
McEwen is also very proud of an heirloom left to him by his father a few years back. "It's a 1955 Lagonda 3 litre Saloon Car," says Herb. "It's built out of aluminum. British automobile manufacturer, David Brown, used to manufacture race and sports cars in the '50s along with Aston Martin. David Brown Industries bought both Lagonda and Aston Martin when they ran into financial difficulty at the time and then hired one of the Bentley family to head up production on the newer Lagonda products."
"I brought it up from Zimbabwe when my father passed away and as far as I know it's the only one in Canada. I get to drive it about once a year," says Herb.
When asked why only once a year, Herb replies, "I'm too busy taking care of my customers to afford any more time.
The above narrative and the photo of the Lagonda are from a Vancouver Island Business Examiner article and are copyrighted © by the Vancouver Island Business Examiner. The narrative and photo may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the Vancouver Island Business Examiner.