Repair, Reconnect: Toriumi's Auto Repair

With all the auto shops in town that have come and gone this past decade, it’s hard to decide who to pick from based on qualification and more importantly, reliability. 

But as for Toriumi’s Auto Repair, they’ve been around Watsonville since 1986 to serve the community and in their current location since 1988. The repair shop shows no sign of abandoning the land of the strawberry any time soon.

The shop it tucked away on tiny Menker Street. It'sone of the city’s hidden gems when it comes to maintaining the vehicles of today’s standards and even the American classics of years past.

In fact, parked inside the shop is a black 1948 Packard limousine that waits patiently for the water and fuel pumps, both of which were sent off to be rebuilt.  To find new parts for this vintage model was next to impossible.   

However, shop owner and mechanic Dave Toriumi, 55, didn’t always have the luxury of storing cars and working from a building that he called his own.

“We originally started in Pajaro, right behind the Quick Stop. A friend of mine owned the tow yard and actually I rented a single stall from him,” said Toriumi.  

It goes to show that even some of the best have start from the bottom.

Toriumi, born and raised in Watsonville, had a passion with cars since the age of 16. Thanks to his brother Ernie and the era of muscle cars, Toriumi’s mindset was that of a gearhead and there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, his first set of wheels was a muscle car.

“First car I bought was a ’63 Nova with a four speed in it, and I didn’t even know how to drive a four speed when I bought the car. Kind of learned on the run,” said Toriumi

And for Toriumi, there’s no challenge big enough for him to conquer when it comes to his love for working on cars.

One of his latest jobs was a 1966 Ford Fairlane, in where Toriumi put a Super Charged 390 engine in the car along with a custom cut fitted hood. 

“If you plan it right, everything kind of all goes together.” says Toriumi.

It sounds kind of cliché, but having close to 40 years of experience, fixing cars for Toriumi is like coaching football for the 49ers great ex-head coach, the late Bill Walsh. It becomes basic. 

Toriumi also recently worked on a rare model, a 1947 Chevy Panel. And what makes the car so extraordinaire is that not many of them were produced due to the primary focus on the war, causing the ‘47 Chevy Panel to become nearly extinct these days.

Yet, fixing these fine American classics isn’t the only relationship Toriumi has with these hunk of metal. He is an avid collector of NASCAR racing cars that sit inside the shop’s lobby for guest to look at and admire.

It’s not what you think (they don't have that much storage space). Toriumi’s cars are only about 6 inches by 2.5 inches and they are neatly aligned inside a glass display case. 

His vast collection of NASCAR die-cast car models and other racing memorabilia has grown over the years, yet, nothing compares to his most prized possession, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fire suit and helmet from his 2002 season. And what makes the outfit so special?

“Cause it still had the open face. Basically it was an open faced helmet and they used to wear goggles back then. That was kind of the end of it because his father had died in 2001.” said Toriumi. 

From replica race car models to the real deal under the hood, Toriumi’s mind and blood is constantly running on gasoline itself.  So the next time some kind of mechanical failure occurs on a car or it’s finally time to get that 1966 Chevy Impala up and running, don’t hesitate to call Toriumi’s Auto Repair for some help.