A POPULAR garage came to the end of the road last week, when ALC Engineering’s joint owners Dennis Gale and John Hounsom retired.

Tributes have poured in from customers, some of whom have been regulars for 34 years, since the business opened in Haslemere.

Dennis and John’s partnership goes back even further, however.

They first worked together in 1973 at the former British Leyland garage in Midhurst, before starting their own business in 1984, first in a rented facility Camelsdale, before buying their own premises at Unicorn Trading Estate, in Weydown Road, in 1989.

Motoring is a driving passion for both.

John is a classic car enthusiast and regularly shows his prized MGB.

And Dennis successfully competed in the British karting championships for 25 years, winning the Nigel Mansell Cup, then switched to autograss national series racing for five years, driving the electric green mini he customised, followed by a brief spell doing motorbike trials in 2013.

Dennis’ parents owned former company Gales Coaches, and a major part of their business to start with was keeping the fleet in good order.

When they bought their own premises, they ran a Skoda franchise until Volkswagen took the manufacturer over in 1990.

“We have decided to retire,” Dennis said.“Technically, John could have retired two years ago. One of the reasons why we decided to quit is that it is becoming so expensive to service modern motor cars.

“Every two years, you have to re-equip to keep up and the software costs a fortune.

“It will get even harder with the development of hybrid cars,” Dennis added.

“We have been very humbled by all the support we have had from our loyal customers.”

John, who will now have more time to compete in darts and fishing competitions, added:

“We have always counted our customers as our friends and we have had so many goodbye cards and emails.

“We are incredibly grateful for the loyalty people have shown to us. It’s rare these days.”