I can remember the first "muscle car" I ever had. It was a Ford Torino with a 390 cubic inch engine. It had headers, was an 8 cylinder, and gas was around seventy eight cents per gallon.
Every Sunday afternoon I would head outside my hometown of Hattiesburg, Ms and race that Torino down the quarter-mile track at Hub City Raceway. I'll never forget their radio ads with the announcer yelling "Sunday, Sunday, Sundayyyyyyyyyyyy!", with each Sunday getting louder and louder.
One of the major topics of conversation was "Who was the best mechanic in town". Since that time, I sold or wrecked and/or rebuilt about seven other race cars, probably my fastest being white Pontiac Tras-Am with a 454 cubic inch engine in it. It was the second year they came out and Pontiac only made them in that color. A Sunday didn't go by that I did not take home a trophy.
Many years have passed since my days of youth, yet I still seek out the best mechanic. I now live in Los Angeles, and I stumbled across him, merely by accident. Not only was he the best but the most honest.
My clutch went out in my newly bought used Saturn that was perfect in every other way (sans the clutch). I had even driven it across the country with no problems.
Then came the breakdown.
It was towed to a man of whom I'd never heard, named Vladimir Morsach, a Russian Immigrant who had learned American, Japanese, and European cars long before he arrived to our shores, and learned them well. He knew exactly what the problem was and quoted me $200 cheaper than the mechanic on the other side of town, in Woodland Hills where the car stood for several hours.
Vlad called the next day and the car was ready.
I went to pick it up. I still had my out of state checks as I'd just moved from Arkansas, and since there had been some unauthorized charges on my Mastercard, I had canceled it and could not use it. He had to take my word that the check was good. He did.
The minute I drove it out of Vlad's lot, I could tell that the clutch was fixed and tight, and in fact, had never been that good, even when I bought it and drove it off the car lot.
So ironically, the best mechanic, at least my choice, in America, is not even a native-born American nor did he see a lot of American cars in his early-learning stage. But don't let that fool you. He fixed it as professionally and courteously as anyone with which you could hope to deal.
In addition, he said, if there was anything else wrong with the car, he would let me know before fixing it. I thought "Uh oh...what is coming next", based on my experience with so many mechanics with which I'd worked in the past. He called me again to let me know it was only the clutch. Now that is honesty, and certainly worth driving a few miles (or in my case having it towed, to get it fixed better, cheaper, and from a very nice person, Vladimir Morsach). Welcome to America, Vlad! We are very glad you are here!
I would later find out through a mutual friend more about Vlad. Now I'm not surprised at all of his unique talents. He is a mechanical engineer, went to the one of the best University's in Russia and had many years of experience working with cars, both European and American. Vlad feels in good terms with languages, he believes he can't learn English and states that he'd better do what he knows best and it is repairing cars, remodeling, etc. (however, we had no problems at all with communications and I speak no Russian) For him, it is NOT just about cars, it is about his passion, but mostly: his honesty and integrity. He guarantees his work for one year and if your car is NOT working properly and has same problem he will repair it for free.
Note: Vlad's shop is at 18440 Vanowen Ave, Reseda, Ca in the Valley. His phone is 818-719-8610. He's great to talk to also. Sounds like I'm gushing, I know, but have never had such a positive experience with an auto mechanic.
Aside from living in his car like every other Los Angeles citizen, Rick London is the founder of the Internet's top offbeat cartoon, Londons Times Cartoons http://www.londonstimes.us. He also owns several gift stores that feature his thousands of cartoons on tshirts, mouse pads, clocks aprons, and all sorts of items at http://www.LTSuperstore.com and http://www.ricklondonwear.com
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