A regular feature that offers a snapshot of the working lives of some of Uptown’s most colourful characters. This issue we meet Wiremu Burkhardt, 34, the owner and head mechanic at Master Mechanics on Upper Queen Street.

My alarm goes off…

At 5am. I head over to Eden Terrace from my home in Te Atatū Peninsula for a workout at Ludus Magnus gym. 

My work day begins…

After a quick shower! I am at work by 7am to start my day. I’ll begin by checking emails and getting the workload organised for my staff. The team arrives by 8am.

My current job…

I set up Master Mechanics in February 2016. We are a premium boutique workshop and we offer WOF, repairs and servicing for all makes and models of cars. We have a really good customer base and they trust us and the quality of our work. We are lucky to service a huge range of vehicles and customers’ “pride and joys” and they know we appreciate those vehicles just as much as they do. From the high-end bi-turbo V8 Audis or Mercedes to the odd Tesla, we get to work on so many different vehicles it keeps the days varied and exciting.

My typical day…

Involves everything from sourcing work to building customer relationships and invoicing. I am also quality control! I’m extremely fussy and I don’t cut corners.  My mantra is that we do it once and we do it right. 

My big break…

I have always loved cars and my passion is quite simply anything to do with cars. I left school after just scraping through School C and got a job cleaning cars at Paul Stockman Motors. A few years later I was able to start the Unitech night course as an apprentice mechanic. At that time I thought I knew absolutely everything about everything, but I've been in the trade for 19 years now and I still learn something new every single day.

I’m proud of…

The green wall at the back of the garage. I wanted to create a space that my team would enjoy working in and identified that breathing exhaust fumes all day in the workshop was something that we could improve. I made the wall myself and planted it with peace lilies, spider plants, ladder ferns and anthurium. I haven’t touched it for four years, it looks after itself. We benefit from breathing clean air and it looks nice too.

My worst work habit is…

Doing too many things at once.  My colleagues would probably describe me as impatient.

My most memorable moment…

I have been part of some of the highest quality car builds in New Zealand, including my show car, a Mazda B2000, which I have lovingly restored.

Outside of work…

I spend time at the racetrack, I love going to the beach and I do loads of sports.  Most importantly, I try to spend every minute I can with my two children, aged 3 and 4.

I chose Uptown because…

I have lived in Eden Terrace and Newton since I was at school. I have worked all over Auckland with different mechanical jobs, but this is my dream location. I really appreciate the quality in customers and their vehicles living or working on the city fringe.

My Plan B…

This is my dream job so to be honest, I wouldn’t really change it. And if I did, it would have to feature cars!

I fall asleep…

When my eyes close.