101 Corvette Closes After Lengthy Tenure
Steve Pyles landed in Macomb 57 years ago from Fort Wayne, IN at the age of 16 when his father, a Baptist preacher, was assigned to a church in the rural, west central Illinois community. After moving from townto- town (and state-to-state) over the years, it was a place that seemed like home to the Pyles' family, so it's where they stayed and put down roots. It was also where Steve decided to stay and built a thriving business that recently shuttered its doors after 44 years.
The longtime owner of 101 Corvette Paint and Body Shop closed his doors for good May 22. The building at 101 S. College Street is currently on the market through Remax. The Community News Brief recently sat down with Pyles to talk about his decision to retire and what's next.
Like many seasoned mechanics and auto body repair pros, Pyles is a self-made, and self-taught, man. While his dad was a preacher, he was also a builder, and it was how a young Pyles, working alongside his father building the family's houses as they went from town-to-town, learned to work with his hands. And it was his first car at 16, which was wrecked in an accident, where he first learned how to repair a damaged vehicle. However, before he ventured into the world of auto body repair, he used that construction experience building pole barns.
'I did that for a while, but the work slowed down to just a few days a week in the winter, so I was looking for something else to do,' he explained. 'I started as an apprentice at Car Care Center, and got out of the construction business.'
