{"id":62806,"date":"2019-06-12T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T17:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=62806"},"modified":"2019-06-12T14:13:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T21:13:00","slug":"shop-tour-five-questions-with-gillin-auto-interiors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/shop-tour-five-questions-with-gillin-auto-interiors\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Tour: Five Questions with Gillin Auto Interiors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gillin
A view of the shop floor at Gillin Auto Interiors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here at RacingJunk, we love the shop tours — the chance to really poke around the places that transform our rides from dream into reality. Of course, we can’t be every where at once, so sometimes those tours are more in-depth conversations about places we’ve heard are doing great work in their fields. One such place is Gillin Auto Interiors<\/a> based in Middletown, NY, which specializes in custom interiors and convertible tops among other specialties.\u00a0 Co-owner, designer and head of marketing Gilbert Monge welcomed us and gave us a virtual tour of Gillin.<\/p>\n

RacingJunk:<\/strong> How did Gillin Auto Interiors get its start?<\/p>\n

Gil:<\/strong> Back in July 2006, I was leaving a corporate job.\u00a0 I had some safety net from a buyout and I wanted to start a business, so I opened up the first version of Gillin in a small garage across the street from our house.\u00a0 <\/span>The idea was that it\u2019d be me and one other person working on one car at a time.<\/p>\n

RacingJunk:<\/strong> How did you get into upholstery? Why this aspect of vehicle restoration or design?<\/p>\n

Gil:<\/strong>\u00a0I knew I liked cars. I certainly liked owning cars. My partner Linda (now my fianc\u00e9 ) and I were kicking ideas around. We were seeing a ton of mechanic and body shops, but upholstery was being done by a bunch of one man shops. It’s hard to do both parts — the upholstery and growing a business. It made me ask, “What if I started the shop? What if I got someone to do the work, and then was the person who marketed it?”\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Next thing I knew, we were in business and it started to boom quickly.<\/p>\n

RacingJunk:<\/strong> You knew you wanted to run an upholstery business, but you weren’t an upholsterer. How did you find the right folks to do the work?<\/p>\n

Gil:<\/strong> I went to a lot of car shows and I identified upholstery work that I liked. Plus, I knew I also wanted to hire the person who had done my cars.\u00a0 Linda<\/span>\u00a0met someone else who’s work she liked. \u00a0We g<\/span>ot someone from Wyotech. We just kept working until we assembled our great team, which now includes:<\/p>\n

Chris Gillespie (Upholsterer \u2013 Specializes in Stitch work)
\nGuido Pedraza (Upholsterer \u2013 Specializes in Interior Restoration)
\nKen Arnold (Fabricator\/Craftsman \u2013 Specializes in Woodwork)
\nKurt Reiche (Upholsterer \u2013 Can pretty much do any job in the trade)
\nJosh Parilla \u2013 (Upholsterer \u2013 Specializes in convertibles and Interior Kits)<\/p>\n

We’d also like to remember our beloved Gene Tasso, who recently passed away. He was a true craftsman with over 40 years experience and was a key part of our growth.<\/p>\n

\"Gillin
1963 Rolls Royce Restoration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RacingJunk:<\/strong> What were some of the challenges you encountered along the way?<\/p>\n

Gil: <\/strong>We\u00a0got too big too quickly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Then I realized owning a shop across the street from my was a bad idea if I ever wanted to not be at work.\u00a0 We n<\/span>eeded to expand and go somewhere else, and finally found a bigger shop in Middletown. It was a lot of square footage, and we needed more than two people.\u00a0 A<\/span>bout five years ago, we moved into our current 5000 square foot facility. We now have six people on staff.<\/p>\n

RacingJunk:<\/strong> What\u2019s Gillin’s specialty?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Gil:<\/strong> We’re unique because we have several upholsterers \u2014 Guido does beautiful interior restoration work, like a \u201935 Bentley going to a Concours show. Chris and Kurt can do SEMA and Custom builds.\u00a0 <\/span>We have such a broad spectrum of talents that we can do anything.\u00a0 <\/span>Lately it seems like we\u2019re doing a bunch of Camaros. Which is fine by me, it’s my favorite car.<\/p>\n