It all started back in the early 1970’s when Billy Lussier and his cousin John would ride around with their pet chickens in the old Opel field car that Unk (Uncle Ray) got for them. It had a blown head gasket and would fill the cooling system with oil. When it ran low on oil and overfilled the radiator, they just drained a little off and put it back in the crankcase and continued their antics. Between field cars, dirt bikes and snowmobiles, Billy and his friends and cousins were always taking things apart, putting them back together and tinkering around with anything with a motor to figure out exactly “how it worked”.
It was 1973 and the neighbor was selling his 1964 Chevy Malibu and 13 year old Billy had to have it. The back quarter windows were loose and falling out and it had some damage on the quarter panels. He bought it from the neighbor for $50.00 and began fixing it up. With little knowledge of auto body repair at the time, he felt it adequate to use sheetrock joint compound as a filler for the rot on the quarter panels. He finally finished all of the repairs and it was time to go for a ride. He started driving the Malibu up Unk’s hill but little did he know that the battery wasn’t held tightly in it’s tray. It slid and shorted against a brake line causing the car to lose brakes and roll backward down the hill and crash right into Poppie’s soda machine. Needless to say, it was then that he learned the true meaning of “we do it nice, ‘cause we do it twice”.
By 1975 Billy was setting up shop out of his parent’s garage. He was fixing anything that his friends, family, neighbors and even teachers would pay him to fix. He was painting trucks and equipment for Unk’s oil company. It was around this time that he built his own homemade tow truck. Purchased from a flower shop and without any brakes or a working clutch, his father flat towed him back to the house at only 15 years old. Billy cut and shortened the frame and built a wrecker body onto it. Ready for the road, he remembers driving it to school for senior year in 1977/78. He started doing tows after school and on weekends and well, even during school when the teachers would let him out the back door. He always made sure to bring a hot chocolate back for the hall monitors on duty.
In 1978 Billy made it official by starting a DBA under the name Bill Lussier’s Autobody. Now a registered repair shop with the DMV, he had plenty of work to keep him busy. He specifically recalled the first time the DMV inspector came to visit him. Billy had the registration sign but he never put the lettering on it nor hung it up so it was visible for the public. The inspector walked up and Billy called out “what can I do for you on this fine day sir?”. The inspector replied “How’d you like a kick in the ass”. It seemed he wasn’t at all amused that Billy hadn’t been following the rules. But anyone that knew Billy knew that he had his own way of doing things.
By 1980 it was time to leave home and expand his horizons. Despite his parents being completely against it, he made a deal on a napkin at a local bar to purchase Uber’s Garage on Crescent Road. He started operating out of Uber’s Garage, renting at first with the intentions to buy. By 1982 at only 22 years old, Billy was the proud owner of the property. He had cousins, friends and neighbors working for him at the time. In January of 1983 the DBA was transitioned into a corporation under the name Lussier’s Autobody & Repairs, Ltd. He started doing repairs for Hertz Rental Car, a few car dealerships and a local car wash. It seems the car wash was one of his biggest customers sending cars that had been damaged by the car wash machine (nicknamed the veggi-matic). It certainly kept the shop busy between torn off mirrors, antennas, moldings and causing dents and small dings. The shop also landed a fairly lucrative gig with the local garbage companies welding, repairing and painting garbage trucks and dumpsters. How could one forget the distinctive smell of what was referred to as “honey” dripping from the trucks and dumpsters.
In 1985 the second story of the building burnt as a result of a fire. The shop then had to move back to his parent’s one bay garage on Beach Road until things were rebuilt and able to be operational again. For years he worked out of both locations. At one time Billy began painting tow trucks for another towing company. Notably, some of these trucks went to a towing showcase in Connecticut where one truck won 1st place and another won 2nd place.
In 1988 Billy began working with an architect to design and build a new building in the rear of the property. He ran a bulldozer for 8 months to strip the property of the clay and to get it prepared for the building. At the time, the Town of Halfmoon was trucking much of the clay out to use for lining and covering their landfill. In September of 1990 the company moved into the new building which it continues to operates out of today. At first the back half of the building was rented out as a rock climbing gym as well as to various used car dealerships until the company outgrew the small space and needed to expand. By 1995 Lussier’s Autobody had occupied the entire building and the Service Department was born. The repair shop was soon known for its ability to find and fix tough problems that other shops weren’t able to find. Billy and his crew were soon doing diagnostic and electrical work as well as frame straightening and repairs for other local shops as a result.
In the mid to late 90’s each year employees, family and local friends from “Crescent” would look forward to Lussier’s Autobody’s big Christmas Party. For the families and young children these parties always left lasting memories and still come up in reminiscing conversations from time to time.
At a young age, Billy’s oldest son Nicholas was always attached to his hip. He grew up building, fabricating and repairing, spending countless hours at the auto body shop. Nicholas was always very interested in heavy equipment though and as a result he started his own excavating company shortly after graduating high school.
In the Summer of 2004 Billy asked his middle son Benjamin if he would be interested in working at the office in the repair shop. At 14 years old, Ben started learning the basics of the business helping out during the summer months and when on school breaks. By 2008 and after graduation Ben came on full time at the repair shop. Ben was eager to learn and advance the shop with more technology. Over the years Ben dug deeply into diagnostics, electrical, calibrations, programming, locksmithing and obtaining OEM scan tools and specialty tools that would further the business and keep it on the cutting edge of the industry.
Around 2013 Billy’s youngest son Elliott started working with his father and Ben after school. Elliott began learning the do’s and don’ts of being an automotive technician. Elliott was never afraid to learn new things. Always determined, Elliott did much of everything, between working under a vehicle doing repairs and maintenance, internal engine repairs, fabricating and welding, auto body and collision repairs, painting and refinishing and perfecting his paintless dent repair skills.
By 2015 Billy had slowly backed away from daily business operations and refocused his efforts to ventures outside of the auto body shop. Being nicknamed “the fireman” he was always available to stomp the fires out when needed though. Today, the Lussier Brothers, Ben and Elliott work side by side optimizing the business’ operations. Together they have built upon the company’s honest and trustworthy reputation and transformed the business into a cutting edge Collision Repair and Service Center with full service towing.
