Along with being helped with a transmission matter, customers who stop at Pacifica Automatic Transmission on Palmetto might also find themselves participating in a conversation on philosophy, or a discussion of current events, or even a mutual appreciation of the Three Stooges (my hand is raised on all three). Andy Binsfeld, the transmission shop’s owner, is a fan of people. He is interested in the individual and their story and knows how to listen as well as talk. If a customer needs to just run in and run out, that works too.
Binsfeld’s transmission shop has been in Sharp Park for 50 plus years. His father’s brothers, Willy and Fred, opened the Palmetto business in 1959. 1044 Palmetto was its first address. In 1999, Andy moved the shop to 1137 Palmetto where he stayed for 10 years. Three years ago he moved to his current location at 931 Palmetto.
“My uncles’ original shop was located where Pacifica Muffler & Volvo Service is now,” Binsfeld said. “At that time, it was a small, two-door building, with a big dirt lot behind it and it was very inexpensive. My uncle bought it with a handshake deal.” While both of Binsfeld’s uncles knew cars, it was Andy’s Uncle Willy that had the bigger auto repair résumé. He had worked for Golden Gate Cadillac in San Francisco for a number of years, prior to the move to Pacifica. He had also worked on military equipment during the Korean War. Pacifica Automatic Transmission is the 11th business holder in Pacifica and Andy has the license to prove it.
Binsfeld’s parents are both from Germany. They met in California. Andy’s mom was working as an au pair in Tiburon and his dad was a plumber in San Francisco. Andy, the youngest of two, was born at Seton Medical Center.
When Binsfeld was five, his parents and his Uncle Willy decided it was time for an adventure. While Uncle Fred held the shop down, Andy, his brother Tom, his dad, his mom, Uncle Willy and his family (which included five kids), all went sailing for about a year and a half in the South Pacific. Travels took them to Hawaii, down through the Western Seaboard, into the Sea of Cortez — and all on a 56-foot sailboat. There was an au pair for the kids and a couple of extra crew. Essentially there were 7 adults and 7 kids.
“Funny, when I tell people my parents did this, they presume they were hippies,” Binsfeld said. “But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We were like a camping/hiking family.” “The things I remember from my ‘seafaring’ childhood!” Binsfeld laughed. “It was a great adventure, but we did have tremendous seas at times and the occasional 70-foot wave. Once you experience a 70-foot wave, it changes you for the rest of your life — you don’t sweat the small things. When you follow that experience by arriving at a beautiful tropical island, it’s overwhelming in a wonderful, peaceful way.— That was the family’s first sea adventure. Then Andy and his family lived in Santa Rosa for three years before moving to Pacifica. The family did a second voyage from 78 to 81.
“In my childhood, I had limited exposure to television,” Binsfeld said. “There were book exchanges in all these cities we came to, and we would go there and trade our books. I did a lot of reading. My parents also brought us books from school and we had school time on the boat. Included among my studies was celestial navigation and nature studies, things which I still study, and things that I think should be taught more.” Binsfeld also learned how to work a sailboat at a young age, and repair boats, and then there were the fireworks, hugely exploding fireworks, that he and his brother would pick up at the open market stores located at the various stops along their travels.
When the family returned to Pacifica in 1981, Binsfeld headed off to Terra Nova High School By that time, two of Andy’s cousins were managing the shop on Palmetto. When Binsfeld graduated in 85, one cousin had left and there was a spot waiting for Andy. Andy and his cousin Reiner managed the shop together for ten years. For the past 17 years, it has just been Andy as the owner.
With 27 years in the same business, Binsfeld said he had a lot of stories. His favorite is the time this guy he knew a little, told him he was sending his wife over to have the transmission checked on their car. He didn’t mention she would also have their six kids in the car. “She pulls in and asks if I can test drive her car to figure out what’s going on,” Andy laughed. “She steps out and I climb into the driver’s seat. With her six children in the car — two infants with pacifiers, a four and six year old, and an eight and ten year old — we set out for a test drive, and all her kids, including the ones with pacifiers, go immediately silent, staring at this strange person who is suddenly driving their car, while their mom is waving to them from the sidewalk.” “It was Christmas time,” Andy continued, “So I asked these silent, suspicious kids what their favorite Christmas song was and by the time we pulled back to where their mom was waiting, she heard a whole car singing ‘Jingle Bells.’ It was a great ‘jingle bells’ moment!” (It was also an easy repair. Just a tightening of the linkage bolt and off the family went.) Binsfeld has two kids of his own. “My wife Mary and I have been together for 20 years and married for ten, and she is pretty awesome as are our two daughters. They are six and eight. My advice is turn off the TV and visit with your kids.” Andy’s daughters understand German, which Andy also speaks, though they don’t really speak it. They do speak Mandarin and Cantonese like their mom.
Binsfeld said that in his work he sees generations of customers. “I see people as they grow and evolve. It’s very rewarding.” Binsfeld also works on cars of “many” ages — including cars from the 50s and 60s that are almost hand crafted.
“Anything pre 1964 is classified as an antique,” Binsfeld said. “And parts pre 1964 are hard to find and often five times more expensive. A torque converter for a newer automobile will cost two or three hundred, but for an ‘antique’ car, they raise that price to $1,000 or even more, it could be $2,000.” In addition, Binsfeld makes it his business to know all his business neighbors. “Whatever neighborhood you work in, you should know your neighbors,” Binsfeld said. “You spend a lot of your life at work and I say — be on good terms with people. Great them with a big hello! What have you got to lose?” Binsfeld loves having his shop in Pacifica.
“We have the best of everything,” the transmission shop owner said. “We have the best air. You don’t have to travel far to be in San Francisco, or the snow, or Santa Cruz, or the Redwoods, and you don’t have far to go to get on a sailboat. The view is beautiful and the people are friendly. We also don’t have giant bugs like they do in the South Pacific. We used to call some of those cockroaches 747s!” “The best thing I get to do at my shop is meet a lot of people. Individuals from every walk of life come through my door and that is such a great experience. Plus when you provide a service where it really makes things work for someone, that’s a good thing.”
Pacifica Automatic Transmission, 931 Palmetto Ave. Transmission specialists, adjustments, repairs and overhauls. Free test and estimates. Open Monday -Friday.
