Seeing no future as a farmer, Antonio Tolorio decided to leave his native town of Merida, Leyte province, to work as a mechanic in Cebu City.
Four decades and four years later, Tolorio is a sought-after mechanic for Volkswagen enthusiasts in Cebu.
His expertise in repairing and refurbishing the popular German vehicle draws clients from all over the province.
He counts among his clientele Korean nationals and priests who are referred to him by Fr. Paking Silva and professionals from as far as Badian town, western Cebu.
“If our work is good, the customers would always come back,” Tolorio told Cebu Daily News in his shop in sitio Banawa, barangay Guadalupe.
His journey as a Volkswagen mechanic began when he was an 18-year-old farm boy in Merida town, Leyte.
With only a few pesos in his pocket, Tolorio went to Cebu in 1967 to try his luck.
“If I didn’t do it, I would have become a farmer for life,” he said.
His mother Agapita died shortly after his birth. He and his siblings grew up with their grandparents, which Tolorio found difficult.
When he moved to Cebu, Tolorio lived with a friend’s relative near the old Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPRDC) along M. J. Cuenco Avenue.
He started as an apprentice mechanic for Safari Motors, which had a shop in Banawa.
An elementary graduate whose work experience consisted of tilling the soil, Tolorio said he worked hard to learn his trade.
After six years, he worked as an apprentice mechanic in the Big Ben motorshop in barangay Mabolo in 1973.
One of the owners, Ben Gamboa, recruited him and five other mechanics to work in his BG Gamboa Motors in Manila.
Tolorio said he worked for BG Gamboa Motors, a Volkswagen dealer located near Nayong Pilipino, from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, he and his co-workers returned to Cebu to put up their own shop.
One of his co-workers convinced Martin Uy, co-owner of LBF Hardware, to finance their car shop named Alta Motors.
When their partnership fizzled, Tolorio reapplied with Safari Motors in 1979 as an expert mechanic.
After marrying his wife Marcelina, Tolorio put up his own auto shop in a vacant lot in Banawa owned by a friend, Ben Melejor.
Another friend, Apolonio Reyes, loaned him welding equipment and a compressor to help start his shop.
Tolorio said it took him a year to buy his own equipment and Volkswagen parts; after which he returned the machines he loaned from Reyes.
Tolorio said he would ask clients to pay a down payment of 60 percent of the total cost of repair to buy the parts he would need.
Tolorio later moved into a 1,000-sq.-meter lot in Banawa owned by former Cebu City councilor Gabriel Leyson, about 50 meters away from his old area.
He hired two mechanics and two car painters to help him in his shop, where he services at least one client a day.
Tolorio said full-body repainting would cost P20,000 and take a month to complete while general repairs cost P100,000 and three months of work.
A red top-down Volkswagen owned by a Korean client is now in his shop for upholstery replacement.
Tolorio also sold several refurbished Volkswagens that cost from P50,000 to P130,000.
He said he buys dilapidated Volkswagens for at least P2,000 each and takes out parts that he could still use to refurbish vehicles that he is working on.
“I never thought I’d make it this far. If I stopped, I would have returned to farming in Leyte,” Tolorio said.
In his spare time, Tolorio said he looks for spare parts to refurbish a 1972 Combi model.
He finished repairs of a brown buggy that he uses as a service vehicle three years ago.
The buggy bears the family name on its seat covers while its hood is printed with the face of a wolf.
He said a buyer offered P200,000 for the buggy but he refused to sell it.
Tolorio said he uses a black Volkswagen sakbayan as another service vehicle for his auto shop.
His expertise with the antiquated German-designed vehicle has given him a steady flow of customers, Tolorio said.
“My clients keep coming back and sometimes would bring along new referrals because they are content with the service that I give them. You just have to think of work and not just the money you would get from it,” he said.