Iconic auto-towing service closes after 40-year run (CO)

[TowForce]

 

Some businesses are just destined to become icons within their community, and TLC Automotive is one of them.

 

The giant tow trucks capable of hauling a fully-loaded tractor-trailer rig or a lavishly equipped tour bus into the repair shop were a common sight around Sterling. Over the years the trucks pulled some very famous rigs into town: Chubby Checkers, Reba McIntire and Snoop Dogg all have benefitted from a TLC tow.

 

It started in a mid-size metal building on Sterling’s Iris Drive on Nov. 18, 1983. It was a Friday when James Conour turned a wrench for the first time in his very own automotive repair shop. Conour, who passed away in 2021, put his entire business philosophy in the name of his shop: TLC Automotive.

 

Those initials stand for exactly what you think they do. According to newspaper clippings his wife Chris has curated over the years, James Conour’s driving ambition was to treat his customers and their vehicles with tender, loving care.

 

Conour attended schools in Sterling and graduated from Sterling High School in 1977. He received his Associate’s Degree from Northeastern Junior College and worked for several years for other shops in the area before opening his own business. He was alone, and he had one tow truck.

 

Two years later he hired Chris Yerton to do the books and run the office for him. Before long she also became his wife and then the mother of his children.

 

After 19 years on Iris Drive, TLC Automotive had outgrown its modest beginnings. The Conours built a giant new shop on Edwards Avenue and had as many as nine employees, five of them automotive and diesel technicians. The shop boasts five vehicle lifts, including one for the big rigs, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in tools and equipment.

 

The single tow truck became a fleet of 13, including an air bag recovery van – a truck containing air bags capable of raising tons of weight to recover vehicles.

 

The big rigs come with a big price tag, too; over $1,000 an hour to run he biggest ones, including a driver and an assistant. Charges vary according to the weight of the towed vehicle. Ask how much it costs and you’ll be directed to a sign painted on the fender of a Kenworth named Goliath: “Powered by Cubic Dollars.”

 

While the repair shop built a solid base of steady customers, it’s the towing part of the business that generated the most stories. Like the time a traveler broke down with a car full of dogs, all of which boarded at the Conour residence while the vehicle was fixed.

 

TLC automotive closed forever on Dec. 31, 2023. When James passed away Chris tried to sell the business but her buyer was unable to close the deal. Instead, the fleet of trucks, the tools, the equipment all will be auctioned by BigIron Auctions.

 

Still, it was a good run, as they say.

 

“His dream was for the business to make it 40 years,” Chris said. “We did that. I just wish he’d been here to see it.”

 

RESOURCE LINK