The Bennington Garage has changed hands after 40 years of Joe MacGregor's leadership. New owner Wade Wallace – a ConVal graduate from Greenfield – understands the importance of staying true to the roots of the business. 

Wallace and his wife Nicole are the new faces of the Bennington Garage. The business, now officially called Wade’s Precision Automotive, will retain its original sign, and the only changes on the horizon for the establishment are strictly operational. 

Wallace had owned his business for one year prior to purchasing the Bennington Garage. He has been “tinkering with cars” since his youth, with his father having owned a garage. Wallace specialized in European vehicles for years after graduating high school and worked at garages in Greenfield and Milford. He founded Wade’s Precision Auto but needed a larger space, and the accountant he had hired to search for a new space happened to be the same accountant hired by MacGregor to sell the garage. The opportunity was exactly the space Wade’s Precision Automotive required. 

Wallace has enjoyed transitioning into the new space and getting to network with the people of Bennington. 

“Everybody has been coming in, just introducing themselves and letting me know that they were longtime customers of Joe’s,” said Wallace. “Constantly, all day, I’m either answering the phones and talking to new customers and I barely have any time to work on cars right now. It works out [well]. I’m getting to meet everybody in town.” 

Along with a fresh coat of paint. Wallace intends to install an additional lift to move more cars through the garage at a more-efficient rate. The garage will also have a new computer system to allow for better administrative performance. In addition to the infrastructure improvements, Wallace is also hoping to eventually bolster his small workforce. 

“Right now it's just me and one other guy,” said Wallace. “He does all the tires and stuff and helps me out when I need little jobs done here and there.” 

The business has family at its core, with Wade being the expert on the cars and Nicole overseeing the administrative elements of the establishment. 

“She does pretty much the same thing Joe's wife does,” said Wade. “She’s all of the important book stuff, all of the stuff to keep the doors open.”

After their serendipitous acquisition of Bennington Garage, they are excited to provide the area with their knowledge, as well as Wade’s European car expertise. The legacy of the business is fresh on their minds as they step into ownership.

“We're excited to be able to keep the nostalgia but also kind of update everything to modern day,” said Nicole. “We had such trouble finding somewhere for almost a whole year and then we finally found this one and it really seemed like it worked out perfectly. So we're excited.”