Eurasia Automotive in 2016
Evolution of Eurasia Automotive
April, 1982: Michael von der Burg opened Eurasia in a small warehouse in Edmonton’s southern industrial area. In addition to Michael, the business had one other mechanic, two tool boxes and a floor jack. Honesty and customer service were the cornerstones to Eurasia’s early success. Business was brisk as word spread of Eurasia’s attention to detail, helped along by Michael’s experience with European cars and his down-to-earth personality. No one could have predicted the early success of Eurasia and so the business soon outgrew its initial space.
August, 1984: Eurasia moved into bigger digs. The second location was just a few blocks away, but boasted almost twice the space. This location included a full body shop, as well as the equipment for all types of mechanical repairs. Again business grew quickly, becoming well know among owners of fine European automobiles (including Mark Messier, pictured at right) in the process. While at this location, Eurasia become certified as a Bosch Authorized Service Centre – one of only two such centres in Northern Alberta.
October, 1988: Again Eurasia grew larger and had to move into bigger digs. This time, the business located on 51st Avenue, which is probably the most well-known location. At that location, Eurasia operated a mechanical repair shop, body shop, detail shop, retail parts business, and used car business. For a period during the late ’80s Eurasia was also an authorized Maserati dealership. Particularly in spring, it was not uncommon to find several Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, and maybe even a Pantera in the shop on any given day.
For the employees, Eurasia was like an extended family. Outside work, employees camped together, participated in motorsport, got married and had kids. Eurasia was a fun place to work, and that translated into tremendous pride of workmanship and a sense of ownership for everyone involved. Over the years financial partners came and went, but founding partner Michael von der Burg remained … committed to the vision that Eurasia was Edmonton’s premier independent repair facility. His vision was infectious, and under his watchful eye Eurasia became so successful that the business had to cut back on advertising for fear of being so busy with new customers it would be unable to serve its most longstanding and loyal clientele.
April 5, 2003 was a very sad day. An electrical fire started in one of the cars left for repairs overnight and the result was devastating. The building caught fire some time around 12:00 AM and was fully involved by the time the Fire Department arrived. Over a period of 13 hours, the shop burned to the ground taking with it 19 customers’ vehicles, many of which were irreplaceable.
Eurasia’s extensive collection of used parts was also lost, as were many of the specialty tools acquired over 20+ years of business, which made reopening a rather daunting proposition. Given the circumstances, one of the major financial partners opted to retire rather than participate in rebuilding. What followed, understandably, was a period of mourning and soul searching for the remaining partners before a decision to reopen could be made.
Perhaps ironically, as one of our long-time customers remarked, “that fire was the best advertising Eurasia ever had.” In the months following the fire customers began to realize what they had lost, and there was a continued longing for a viable alternative to the dealerships for servicing of European and exotic cars. The void left by Eurasia was not filled, and not surprisingly there were several offers from people interested in rebuilding Eurasia.
February 14, 2005: Eurasia reopened in its present location at 5641-91 Street. News of Eurasia’s impending opening spread quickly, and as a result the shop was fully booked on opening day and has been busy ever since. Due to the lengthy period between the fire and reopening, there are both some familiar faces and some new faces … but under Mike’s watchful eye it is already feeling like a family again.
And the new location is fantastic. Opening virtually from scratch allowed us to evaluate and purchase the most suitable equipment, including several special hoists designed in California to accommodate vehicles with low ground clearance (like Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis), automated parts washers, state-of-the-art tire changers and balancers, and the latest diagnostic equipment to properly service vehicles equipped with onboard diagnostics (OBDII). We even have a chassis dynamometer that allows for ‘road testing’ while all our state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment is connected to the vehicle.
February 14, 2010: During the five years at our new location, we made some improvements. Some of the differences are visible … so see if you can find Waldo! We’ve grown to nine technicians, so in 2006 we added two more hoists. In 2007 we installed a nitrogen generator so our customers could benefit from improved tire performance. We installed new compact fluorescent lighting in 2008 that made the shop 50% brighter and used 30% less energy. Although it can’t be seen in the photo, 2008 was also the year we purchased our 5-car enclosed transporter, started our Arrive and Drive motorsport tourism division, and began transporting our customers’ sports cars to race tracks across the US and Canada. In 2009 we retired our old alignment equipment, replacing it with the latest John Bean computerized aligner. And in 2010 we purchased the quietest air compressor on the market to make the environment more pleasant for our staff. What you can’t see is the investment we’ve made in computer diagnostic equipment and specialty tools to make our staff more efficient. And it is still as clean and orderly as the day we moved in.
