By Peek Hames – Originally published in the 2009 Founder’s Review Magazine
While working at the old Libby’s plant in Ocala in 1956, Mac McGregor’s father wanted to own property and found a piece to buy in Belleview. That same year, Mac and his family moved there. After a conflict with a teacher at Lake Weir High School, Mac left school and entered the workforce. He spent a few years at Yawn’s Garage in North Ocala before taking a job with Riblet Products. When Ocala Chassis, which manufactured mobile home chassis, bought the company, Mac worked his way up from the bottom to foreman. He was offered the position of plant manager, but he felt his lack of schooling would do more harm than good when dealing with the bosses at local mobile home factories, so he opted for a new career.
Wanting to become a permanent part of the Belleview community, Mac saw the need for a muffler and front-end alignment shop—despite not knowing how to do either. With guidance from Mr. Tresslar, owner of Belleview Western Auto, on where to buy mufflers, Mac rented Pace’s Garage from Oscar Buhl, who was running the gas station, and leased part of his space to a friend for a front-end alignment shop. He bought a pipe bender, some clamps, and a mixed pallet of mufflers and pipes, and he was in business. Three days later, his first customer arrived, needing a new muffler and pipes. Mac recalls being extremely nervous working on someone else’s car for money. The next day, the customer returned because the tailpipes were rattling. Mac re-bent a new pipe, satisfied the customer, and earned praise for his no-fuss service. “I don’t remember who the man was, but if I saw him today, I’d give him a free muffler job,” Mac said.
Due to illness, Mac eventually took over the front-end business, hiring Dossy Burgess to run it until Dossy’s sudden death nine years later. Dossy’s wife Irene was a waitress at Sandy’s Restaurant. Mac operated out of the Pure Station location for ten years, running the muffler shop, front-end business, and gas station. “Those were some of the happiest years of my life,” he said.
Reflecting on how his father left little to show for 67 years of life, Mac wanted something to fall back on as he grew older. In 1986, he purchased a piece of property off 484 and had Carlton Goolsby build a muffler and front-end shop. He operated there until selling it in 2005. Mac’s Muffler Center evolved from installing his first muffler in 1976 to installing hundreds each month. One memory that always brings a laugh is the “Lifetime Muffler” offer. “For $19.95, ten dollars more than a regular muffler, you’d get a lifetime warranty. I installed five different mufflers on one man’s car,” Mac said.
When not busy in front of the shop, Mac built trailers and pursued his passion for restoring old cars. A lifelong Chevy fan, one of his many restorations includes a ’57 Belair convertible he found in a New York junkyard. Recently, he returned from New York with a ’62 Impala he’s currently restoring. “I love rebuilding old cars, and it makes me some spending money. Some I restore for resale, and some for other people,” he said.
Dennis Baxley once asked Mac to restore the original 1967 Cadillac hearse that Dennis drove when he first started working at Hiers Funeral Home. The hearse, found in a Tallahassee junkyard, was missing a motor, a windshield, and had plenty of rust. Mac told Dennis, “We’re going to need a donor car.” Dennis found a drivable ’68 hearse up north, and Mac used the good parts to finish the restoration in about a year. The hearse is still in service today. “I never dreamed back when I was working at Yawn’s Garage that I’d be cutting cars in half and putting them back together,” Mac said.
for many years. Here, Mac and fellow firemen Stanley Ockosz, Dave Thompson
and John Tuman play a game of horseshoes during a picnic at Lake Lillian.
From the nerves of installing his first muffler, Mac now has a 75 x 100-foot shop at home, complete with two hydraulic lifts and his original pipe bender, where he can rebuild cars from bumper to bumper. Mac credits his wife, Nancy, for supporting his love of car restoration and helping with the muffler shop. “I mostly ran the office and did errands, but I would also hold pipes for him when needed,” she said.
Not all of Mac’s time is spent on his car hobby. At least once a month, he heads to the Gulf for fishing, rides his motorcycle, and spends time with family and friends.
