Meet Mark Geske

We wanted to introduce everyone in the old-car community to Mark Geske, who started working at Gunner’s Great Garage (www.gunnersgreatgarage.com) a while ago. Things have been so busy since Mark came on board that we just never got a chance to spread the word about him back when he first came aboard.

Mark’s last job was painting airplanes for Gulfstream Aerospace in Appleton, Wis. He also worked in a shop called Motion Products that specializes in restoring exotic sports cars like Jaguars and Ferraris. Prior to that, Mark painted for Joe Thieson who owns Joe’s Collision in Appleton. He has additional experience working in Ford and Pontiac dealerships and was employed by big-time car dealer and car collector John Bergstrom.

Mark has done everything on the mechanical end of cars except machine work. He can rebuild standard transmissions and rear ends. He’s “done it all” on drum and disc brake systems, installed wiring harnesses, built suspensions, hung exhausts and installed headliners, carpets, door panels, seat covers, convertible tops and vinyl tops.

Mark is experienced in all phases of bodywork and though we still don’t do actual bodywork in our small shop, he knows how to talk the talk when dealing with outside contractors on that phase of restoration work. Mark has done welding, frame repair, stretching and shortening, chemical stripping, sandblasting and auto glass installs.

Mark owns a bunch of collector cars including a ’62 Chevy and ’62 Corvette, both of which he painted and restored. Like most of us, he also has projects including two Kaiser-built Henry J's, a Corvair, a Porsche 914 and others. Like any good gearhead, he has a building at home filled with cars, trucks, motorcycles, tractors and other machinery.

Lately, we have been traveling with Mark to some hobby businesses and trade shows to get him eyeball-to-eyeball exposure to people and companies we work with when restoring cars. So he has been to the Milwaukee World of Wheels, the Race & Performance Expo, the Buick-Olds-Pontiac-Cadillac Swap Meet, Classic Plus Ltd., John’s Custom Auto, Midwest Remanufacturing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway “Hall of Fame” and the Hot Rod & Restoration Show.

In three months, Mark has worked on a ’48 Chrysler, two 1974 Pontiacs and a 1960 Daimler SP-250. He is also tinkering with a couple of Corvettes at home. He’s a big fan of Corvettes, Henry J's and Volkswagen Beetles.

Mark currently works at Gunner’s Great Garage from Wednesday thru Friday. If you’re driving by, stop in and say hello to him.