On Saturday, the public was invited to the newly opened location to join the company staff for a modest celebration. With MyFM broadcasting on location, folks were able to eat some sweet cupcakes and check out the vast selection of tires, rims and used cars on hand.

Owned and operated by Riley MacGregor, his father Gordon and his grandfather Cecil Hodgins, the new garage named Bristol Auto Performance 148 is the product of their customer base exceeding their capability of serving them.

According to Riley, the business’s new location will have a much wider inventory of tires, wheels and rims than its location in Bristol, providing accessories for all types of vehicles from cars, to trucks to agricultural tractors.

“We’re stocking like 1000-plus tires all the time and not anybody locally can keep that kind of inventory,” he said.

Plus, the garage will also offer a selection of certified used cars, Riley said.

Located in a low-income area, the company prides itself on providing more high-quality products at affordable prices than anyone else.

“We have more on-hand inventory, where nobody else stocks it,” he said. “They might keep the odd set; here we keep everything. Be a car tire, trailer tire, truck, we have it. So, there’s no waiting on stuff. You order it, you get it.”

No matter what someone needs, they have it. If they don’t, they’ll find it, Riley said.

“Whether it’s for a car or a truck or anything else we don’t have, we can source it from someone,” he said. “We’re teamed up with a lot of other wholesalers and auctions and stuff that we can accommodate anybody for whatever they’re looking for.”

Hodgins opened the original Bristol Auto Performance garage located on chemin Front in Bristol, 31 years ago.

In the last five years, he’s been teaching his grandson Riley the ins and outs of operating the business.

After looking at a few locations around the area, the owners felt like the one they selected fit their criteria because it was a large building, located in a traffic-heavy zone in their hometown of Shawville, Riley said.

“I’m from Shawville, so it’s very easy for me to maintain and keep an eye on things,” he said. “You have the show room, we have the storage room. It’s a good traffic area.”

Each boasting over 30 years of experience in the field of mechanics and tire sales, Riley is certain that their vast knowledge of the subject makes them greatly qualified to serve the region’s car, truck and tractor related needs.

“I’ve been doing this my entire life,” he said. “I know nothing else but what we do … we’re the one-stop shop for installations, to wheel repairs, to breaks, rotors, engines, swaps, tires, wheels, tire parts, accessories, all that stuff,” he said.

The family-owned and operated business has five employees all certified to serve the community’s needs.

“It’s just nice to be able to share our services with both locations and use this also to feed our business in Bristol and take advantage of the highway,” he said.

Working alongside his family for as long as he can remember, Riley is grateful for the sense of freedom the business has provided him.

“We’d rather work 60 hours for ourselves than 40 hours for somebody else,” he said. “A lot of people only get to see their family on weekends. We get to do it every day. Sometimes it’s not always for the best, but we’re sort of stuck with each other.”

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