PAINTER’S CORNER
THE DEDICATED PAINTER 37 years and nearly 40,000 cars later
BY SOPHIE PRICE
P
assion will get you far in this trade. If you’re skeptical, Vince Figliomeni can prove it. Vince has been a painter at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Collision for 37 years. In that time, the dedicated painter has returned approximately 38,480 vehicles to their pre-accident glory. Vince first joined the automotive industry in his home country of Italy, where he got his start at working alongside his cousin in a local bodyshop.After arriving in Canada, armed with limited English and an outpouring of passion for the trade, Vince’s wife assisted in his job search, which ended at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota. He began as a prepper in 1983, and after roughly a year his manager suggested he make the leap to painter. “I was so nervous to start because I knew it was a dealership and I had never worked in that large of a setting,” said Vince. “It was a big place, but I took a chance,” he said. Vince says that at first, he was “more scared than enthusiastic,” but his confidence grew as his colleagues applauded his work and his managers took note of his skill.
“Guys would actually look into my job and they were kind of impressed and would say ‘oh my god his paint job is pretty good,’” laughed Vince. “It was a real motivator.” As the facility’s only painter, Vince saw his
“Spraying cars is the easy part. Then you have to have knowledge of the preparation and how to make sure it is done properly; you have to know some bodywork, and there’s a ton of work involved tinting colours. Sometimes colours
“His work is as quality as the day it comes out of the factory. He is flawless, like perfection. We wish we could genetically clone him.” – Danny Jamal, general manager Ken Shaw, Lexus Toyota skill grow alongside experience, but Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota has also supported him for training over the years to further improve his skills. To this day, Vince is still the main painter at Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota Collision with only one other person assisting him on the odd occasions. Vince is an advocate for the trade and says painting cars isn’t as simple as it sounds.
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aren’t always matching properly so you always have to double and triple-check to make sure you put the right colour on the car”. After staying at Ken Shaw for 37 years,Vince can’t imagine himself working anywhere else. “They treat people well,” he says.“Not just me but the rest of the employees here. I know they’ll always make sure I have the right equipment, and we have everything we need.”
