Charlie’s Auto Body has been Lynden’s local auto body shop for 59 years now, but the story began long before that on a farm in North Dakota.

Charles Maier, the Charlie of Charlie’s Auto Body, had grown tired of the family farm. Dirty hands were fine, but he’d rather them be messy with car paint than mud. Unfulfilled with his work, he left the homestead and found his calling as an auto body repair man in Linton, ND.

Charlie was a natural around the underground garage. His eyes caught dents and scratches in seconds and his hands worked even faster to fix them. Charlie loved his job, but his body did not. The dark, dusty work environment had begun to take its toll on his health, and his doctor insisted he leave the business.

Moving West

Bent, but not broken, Charlie left the garage but not the career. With his wife Ruth, their three boys, and another child on the way, he moved west to Washington for the fresh Pacific air and a new start.

Right away, Charlie set out to make a local auto body shop that Lynden could be proud of. His years as a B-17 gunner in WWII paid off when he used money from his G.I bill to purchase the necessary equipment and obtain a lease for a building on Grover St. From there, Charlie’s Auto Body would grow into what it is today.

Growing Pains

As the years passed by, his business grew stronger and so did his sons. Charlie expanded the auto body shop to a new location on Front St. and his boys began to pull their weight around the garage. Bill and Brad followed closely in their father’s footsteps and made a career out of understanding cars. In 1999, Charlie officially hung up his hat and sold the business to Bill and his wife Barb.

Not even 5 years later, Bill was experiencing growing pains at the Front St. location. He saw an opportunity to expand the business even further, but he’d have to build it first. He did just that, and in 2004, he rolled up the bay doors to Charlie’s Auto Body’s new state-of-the-art collision facility. He had finally built the space he could not outgrow. Or so he thought.

Letting Someone Else Drive

Like his father before him, Bill brought his kids into the business. His son Brent possessed the same charisma for cars as Charlie. Since his time in high school, Brent’s been a familiar face to customers who enter the shop. After ten year of sweeping floors, washing cars, sanding parts, and book work, Brent officially became partial owner of Charlie’s Auto Body in 2014.

Where to Next?

Unbottling the same drive that Charlie had when he drove across the States, Bill and Brent decided it was time to expand the business again to keep up with growing demand. Earlier this year, they broke ground on an addition to their existing facility.

Charlie’s has already purchased additional refinish and frame equipment to fill the added space and have dedicated and designed an area for an aluminum repair clean room. Bill and Brent are also growing all work bays to be “extra wide” to better accommodate the community’s love for full size trucks and SUVs.

With the help of this gracious community, Charlie’s has thrived through three generations now. And we look forward to being your trusted local auto body shop for many more generations to come.

Learn More

Charlie’s has learned a thing or two about collisions over our 60 year history. We passed some of it along in our last blog post about what to do after a car accident.