I'm Phil Thearle, and I have been in and around the collision repair industry since I was a young boy. For a number of years I was employed by a local Mercedes-Benz dealership where I was introduced to MBNA's factory paint & body certification programs. Like many young guys, I eventually tired of working for others, thought I "knew it all", and with the perceived "joys" of self employment beckoning, I started Philip Thearle's Autowerks, INC. in early January of 1983.

"Joy"full it wasn't, at least not initially. . . . Just a lot of long days followed by many sleepless nights. . . an elemental part of the American dream. In those early years, we specialized in "Pebble Beach quality" restorations of modern German classics. As the limited opportunities of the restoration business began to reveal themselves, I began to ask myself the question "What if I applied the fundamentals of restoration to the collision repair industry? " I began to formulate a unique business model focusing on the premise that the consumer deserved a finished product which replicated the factory's original efforts. Amazingly, this "revolutionary" concept caught on and my business flourished . . . taking our competitors by surprise.

We were in exactly the right place at the right time. As the company prospered and flourished, we purchased only the best manufacturer-specified repair equipment available. Under pressure from our then primarily high-end clients, we eventually expanded our business to include all makes and models. All of our customers benefit from the "high-end, high-quality" emphasis we have refined over the past twenty-five years. Through the combined efforts of my family and staff coupled with the support of our loyal customers and community, we successfully grew this company from a rented single stall entity into the largest independently owned and operated collision repair center in the Southwest.