Desert Automotive

Brian May started his business back in 1981 in Hesperia in a little metal building just a few miles away from where the current business stands today. “Hesperia was like a one-horse town back then,” laughs Brian. “You could wait by the curb all day for a car to pass and you might get one!” When the business opened in 1981 there was a total of 17,000 people in the little town. Fast forward to today and the populace has grown to over 100,000.

Seeing that there was a future in Hesperia and being like a “settler” in that old Western town, he decided to build the 4,000 sq. ft. larger building in 1986.

“When we first started out we just did automotive and truck repair, and we were a muffler shop,” Bryan remembers. I wasn’t until the move that he added truck accessories and hitches to his services. “You know, doing the accessories and added stuff excited me because the customer’s reaction to my service was totally different. When you do a repair and get someone back on the road no one thanks you or even gives you a smile. You’d think that they were going to the dentist! Add steps, running boards, suspension, or Banks products to their truck or motorhome… now you’d think that they were kids on Christmas morning with smiles a mile wide! Additionally, they didn’t mind spending more on stuff, but it was a different story paying to get their vehicle to do what it did before it was broken. I realized then that repair wasn’t fun, and that’s really when it started for me offering what I do now.”

It’s a good thing Bryan future-proofed his building size back when it was being planned and built because after concentrating on the toys for the trucks (his website is truckcandy.net after all!) he became very busy. As the population of Hesperia grew, so did his business. Luckily he was ready. His shop sports six bays in the front and five in the back. Added to his customer roster is San Bernardino Sherriff vehicles and vehicles from the high desert.

Being a pioneer in the old west runs in his family. Brian’s father also looked at an almost barren piece of land and saw an opportunity which led him to open Apple Valley’s first auto parts store when Bryan was just eight years old, and then following that up with Desert Auto in Hesperia, another first.

Brian’s 39 years in business is a good story about a man, like his father, who envisioned a need and built a business off of that where most saw no potential. Not only is he a modern pioneer of sorts, but he’s also incredibly genuine. You won’t find a friendlier, more knowledgeable proprietor of an “auto saloon” in this here Wild West.

Give him a visit, or call for an appointment and he’ll add a hitch to your wagon, saddles to your trusty truck-steed, of put more horses under the hood.

Desert Automotive
16281 Yucca Street
Hesperia CA 92345
760-244-7183
truckcandy.net