04/02/2024
I have some both good and sad news depending on how you like to look at it. Back when I was younger I liked shiny, nice things. That liking started with collecting antique and vintage glass bottles and coins. There was something appealing to me about these old bottles, as they had character, the coins had soul, they meant something more. I soon found interest in BMX. I wanted the most tricked out bike. I started working with my father and grandfather to save up to buy these “trick” parts. I stripped my frame, fork and bars numerous times and painted them myself in my parents garage with spray cans. I then moved into highschool, I met my soon to be mentor at Platt Tech in Milford. I was infatuated with how easy he made painting look, like it was a born movement. I soon purchased my first vehicle, a Honda Prelude. I drove it for a few days and naturally said I need to make this nice. I stripped the car down, installed quarter panels, new glass and my first “professional” paint job was born. I was “HOOKED”! I had a Nissan 240 Convertible soon after that. I painted that twice due to falling out of love with the first chosen color. I had a summer job at Sikorsky, that I couldn’t stand. There was good money but zero creativity, you were a human robot. Day in, day out, the same task over and over again. I left that opportunity to work at a Collision Shop in town, people doubted me, there’s no money in “body work” all the “body guys I know are addicts or dead”! They just didn’t know. I LOVED it. Taking a crash car, working together as a team to bring it back to its original glory. It was extremely satisfying. I soon grew, and became better educated in the industry and realized I’m not at a facility to grow. Their focus was on numbers, not the craft. Our values didn’t align and at a young age I realized that was not healthy, so I left. I found a new home in Wolcott. The owner there would soon be my light in the tunnel. Owning a shop of my own was impossible in my mind because I only knew the monstrous facility I had left. I always said, “if this is what a collision shop is, I couldn’t never”. That changed when I started my new job. Smaller building, smaller crew, smaller vehicle count. Things here were run on a quality product, something the owner of the business could be happy, satisfying with. It was then I started looking for a building of my own. Two years later my father called and said “you have to see this building, it’s perfect”! I shot back to Milford and viewed the building that happened to be owned by an extremely gracious Milford business owner who had moved operation a few years past. The building, location, everything was perfect so I moved forward fast. My father, uncle and family friends spent the year gutting and restoring this delapitated building I moved into. It came out stunning! I opened DCC the year of 2016. The year was great, new beginnings, new faces, friends. I felt home. Years past, investments made, business plan after business plan, I started to lose sight. I ignored this, I kept pushing, because I damn well can’t go back, right? Wrong. I was blessed to be chosen by a Milford resident and a new friend who operates a specialty store in Milford to be body and paint for a massive, once in a lifetime project. An RWB! Most won’t know what this means and it’s to much to explain, so I would recommend searching “RWB Hagerty” and watch the “mastermind” video. It’s a culture, cars are culture, with many sub cultures in between. This “culture” is what brought me here, what I fell in love with in the first place. I substituted what I loved with financial gain. My love became my work. That soon led to resent. This year I have seen a lot, I have lost a lot, I have learned a lot. Seeing what I saw, losing what I lost and learning what I did allowed me the foresight and courage to announce DCC has come to the end. A new era has been born. I am moving forward in my life and career to allow the two to blend. I still need a job, life still requires finance and my mind satisfaction. Automotive restoration. I will be pivoting my business into the Auto Restoration and Custom space. I will be focusing on early model Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW. Both period correct restorations and resto-mods. High end refinishing and metal working. This is an alignment with my heart, body and soul. I cannot ignore what brings me joy and peace. The collision industry was mean, argumentative, incredibly cutthroat. An industry so broken I really have no care to be the better part of its change anymore. It broke me. I’ve sacrificed mental space, physical health, and happiness for what? A dollar? It’s always been more for me than that. And it’s time I allow myself the space to show the world what I am truly capable of.
Welcome to “The Atelier” a color studio
Thank you, thank you for all the support throughout my venture with DCC. I did all I can and more to provide my town with the highest of quality Collision Repairs. Thank you.
Gary Dulin Jr
Pictured are a few projects we have going on at the moment.
