C. Obert & Co Tech Tip

C. Obert & Co Tech Tip - March 1999 Tech Tip Icon

Tech Tip for March 1999

Taken from Ciao!News volume 5 number 4, Spring 1999

Wherefore Art Thou, oh Service Department?

As if the name change (forced by a rabid lawyer at Fiat USA's New York office) wasn't hard enough, we pulled up stakes and gads and gads of inventory in the last week of February and moved lock, stock and windshield wiper to 2131-D (as in Dog) Delaware Avenue, on the windy westside of our fair city of Santa Cruz.

What we DIDN'T move is the subject of this tech note. There's been no time to write a Tech Tip anyway Chris has been working 10-18 hour days seven days a week on the move (and Genny's been working 8-10 hours, seven days a week on her book which will be out this fall. We think we still have kids. Somewhere. . . ). But there's been a lot of confusion so this short piece will be our effort to make some sense of it all for you.

Numero Uno: We are still the same people who owned Fiat Plus for a zillion years!

Well, sixteen, to be exact. That's Chris Obert, Fiat Freak extraordinaire, with Genny Obert on newsletter (and not much else these days, thanks to her busy writing schedule), and Meghan Wolff on bookkeeping. Add the ever- changing names of the one shipper and one receiver (though we hope the current crew of Michael and Jarod will stick around) and there you have it. The Way-Outs, er, I mean C. Obert & Co.

Numero Due: Yes! We still do service. Just not at the same place where the parts are!

That's what the move was all about: see, there were all these cars to work on, and all these parts to store, and not enough room for everybody. Add to the mixture the fact that rents for auto repair space in our county are ASTROPHENOMEN-OLOGICAL and you'll see why we had to move these (very slowly moving) parts somewhere cheaper. Our full service department, under the name C & C Auto Service, is still located at 318-A River Street in Santa Cruz.

Numero Tre: So, How can Chris fix cars on River Street while he's answering the phone on Delaware Ave?

Working on cars with a phone in your ear is a trick that only some of you mistakenly assumed Chris could do anyway. For the last five or six years, Chris only works on cars as a diagnostician and consultant. Every morning he cruises by River Street on his way to Delaware, and consults with our new service manager and head Tech, Dave Leventhal. He's filled the whole wall that used to hold our Fiat Library with a hundred zillion diplomas from every tech training program from Audi to Zuffenhausen.

Numero Quattro: Remember How Abarth was Buddies with Porsche? Dave is Too!

This guy's so good with fast little racers whether German (Porsches are his favorite), Austro-Italian or la purissima Italiana there's no way he'd blow it on your Fiat, Lancia or Abarth or for heaven's sake Yugo. So don't hesitate to call either one of us up to schedule your repair, whether it's a tiny tune up or a full-scale restoration. Chris is still at (831) 423-0218.

Numero Cinque: Is he Cheap? Hell, No. And Neither are We

We value your automobiles much too highly to do to them what the Ford & Chevy guys at the corner gas stations have been doing to them for the last fifteen years. We know these cars, and we only do quality work, and we only provide quality parts (unless we warn you otherwise, in which case its your decision whether to go cheap and "iffie" or pay more and be safe).

Numero Sei:We'll have a new Tech Tip for you next time. Promise.

There might even be a new one on the web page by the time you read this. You never know.

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C. Obert & Co. is dedicated to providing top-quality parts and service to Fiat, Abarth, Lancia, and Yugo owners. Disclaimer: while we make every effort to ensure the correctness of all technical articles, C. Obert & Co. assumes no liability for the accuracy, safety, or legality of the contents of technical articles or of Ciao!NEWS or C. Obert & Co. Online. Reprint above first copyright granted: (c) 1999 C. Obert & Co. No reproduction without prior authorization.