Its old-world charm remains, to this day, an iconic piece of history in the upper north shore — as petrol operators greet customers at the bowser and mechanics drive the elderly home during an oil change, long after these whimsical services of times past went out of style.

But after decades in the family, the garage at North Turramurra has been sold.

Its loving caretakers Jeff and Cheryl Barbara are preparing to hand over the keys — and Sheila the Kangaroo — to a new family tasked with celebrating the icon long into the future.

“My first recollection of Bobbin Head was a young guy in third class talking about how much of a good time his family had going there,” Mr Barbara said.

“Back in the ’60s I would ask where Bobbin Head was.

“I had no idea this place would play such a big role in my life.”

Mrs Barbara said her first memory of the garage was seeing it as a child on her way to Girl Guides in the 1960s.

“My mother and father reopened the garage in the April of 1976, after we moved down from Port Macquarie,” Mr Barbara said.

“I remember driving up to what looked like a very old service station — it had old wooden doors out the front and both the office and workshop had a 1950s garage charm.”

Mr Barbara said the role the garage played in the community made it “more of a community meeting place than just a local business”.

“I love this community,” Mr Barbara told the Advocate while holding back tears.

“And the history of the garage.”

Mrs Barbara said she and Jeff, as well as his late father Eddie, tried to keep the services “like they were when the garage opened in 1951”.

“We’ve kept the driveway service and kept in touch with the community,” she said.

“We are still serving people who we were serving 43 years ago. We have watched generations grow.”

Mr Barbara said one of the best moments inside the garage was when “young families drop by and you realise just how long you have known them”.

“They get married and then they roll up in the driveway with the kids in the back — it really makes you realise the connection we have to this place,” he said.

The garage has also helped raise several young apprentices into qualified mechanics with a wealth of old-world customer service.

“Our mechanic Mark, he’s been here for 27 years,” Mrs Barbara said.

“He’s part of our family here — we’ve watched him grown up, he and Jeff and the other boys are like bleeding brothers.”

The Barbara family said selling the classic garage was one of the hardest decisions of their lives.

“It was a hard decision,” Mrs Barbara said. “One that wasn’t done lightly.

“The staff here, and the wider community, know there are going to be some changes, but the garage will continue on — there will still be those faces our customers know and love, we just won’t be one of them.”

The community witnessed “chaos spread like wildfire” the day the for-sale sign rose above the famous Bobbin Head Rd landmark as, Mrs Barbara says, residents rallied to support them as the end of an era approached.

The garage and its famous owners hold a special place in the heart of the community, who say it is a piece of local and film history, after countless advertisements, TV shows and movies used the historic location to send viewers back in time.

Mrs Barbara said the first TV show to be filmed on location at the garage was Channel 10 kids show, Miraculous Mellops in 1991.

The petrol station was last used in a recent American film The Reckoning.

I say we provide everything from drive-through therapy sessions to emergency repairs on elderly people’s car so their children don’t stop them from driving,” Mrs Barbara said.

IN OTHER NEWS

“We will always consider ourselves part of the community.”

Members of the North Turramurra Action Group will celebrate the Barbara family’s special place in the community with a farewell party on April 13 at the garage.

NTAG president Nick Bakker said it was with sadness the group will bid farewell to the Barbara family.

“It has been a bedrock for the locals,” he said.

While Christine Drake said she “will miss Jeff’s laconic sense of humour and Cheryl’s unfailing smile and positive attitude”.

To RSVP to the NTAG celebration contact Christine Drake on 0418 493 635