All Car Care

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Southborough shop specializes in auto body, mechanical and restoration work

By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer

Rick Meisenheimer, owner of All Car Care, and a 1934 Chevy Photo/ Nancy Brumback
Rick Meisenheimer, owner of All Car Care, and a 1934 Chevy
Photo/ Nancy Brumback

Southborough—A 1934 Chevy sits in a repair bay at All Car Care, waiting for Rick Meisenheimer and his crew to restore it after a fire gutted the engine and damaged the whole front end.

If All Car Care can rebuild that car and negotiate with its owner’s insurance company, fixing collision damage on everyday cars and keeping them in good running order is a piece of cake.

“I’ve been repairing cars since I was 14. My first job was with Irvine Rambler in Hopkinton,” Meisenheimer recalled. He’s owned his own shop for 40 years, the last 30 in the same Southborough location, the first Studebaker showroom in New England.

Restoring antique cars is the high-end side of his business. All Car Care specializes in auto body and mechanical work on all makes and models, domestic and foreign, and offers custom paint jobs.

When a car is damaged in a collision, his team not only repairs the damage, but works with the primary and secondary insurance companies. All Car Care has loaner cars available if a rental is not provided by insurance.

“People don’t know what to do or who to call. We do all the paperwork for them. We get the appraisal lined up, usually at the shop so we can identify 80 to 90 percent of the damage the first time through,” he said. “We want to get the car back to the customer in the same or better condition than before the accident.”

And, Meisenheimer added, because some accident damage is not reported, “You should always take a used car to a shop like ours before buying it. We can spot telltale signs of damage and poor repairs.”

All Car Care also does all types of mechanical work, from motor and drive train replacement to front end work to general maintenance like oil changes.

Meisenheimer does most of the paint work at All Car Care, and noted it is often worth repairing the dings and dents in a car before trading it in, to keep the value higher whether a lease or toward a new purchase.

He enjoys custom paint jobs—detailing and stripes. Fancy graphics such as painted flames are often done free-hand. For other jobs, he works with a graphic designer to create stencils for layouts, such as those for a motorcycle owner who wanted a super hero theme.

“It takes time,” he noted. “You have to figure out which color should go on first. It’s a lot like silk screening but with an air brush.”

Meisenheimer works on a lot of the classic and antique cars in the area and has built three, including a 1934 Ford coupe that had 14 different colors on it. “Took me three and a half years to build.”

His show cars have all been the same color, a soft pink created by blending red and silver metallic paint. “When you show a car, you want a color that jumps out at you, that makes people want to come over and look at it.”

He is a volunteer with The Boston Cup car show, held the third Sunday in September on Boston Common, free and open to the public. “This year there were about 100 classic cars worth about $100 million,” including a 1956 Mercedes gull-wing and the Lamborghini that was stretched for Wilt Chamberlin.

All Car Care is located at 77 School St. in Southborough, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 508-481-1170 or visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/allcarcare1 to see their latest automotive creation.

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