In the small Australian town of Underbool, home to fewer than 220 people on a remote stretch of Victoria’s muddy highway, 99-year-old mechanic Ray Gloster is continuing to do something that many people half his age have already left behind.
Six days a week, he still goes to the family workshop, where he has spent an astonishing 83 years repairing vehicles. One can only imagine how much knowledge and technical know-how he acquired while restoring cars over all those decades, a career that may soon earn him a Guinness World Record.
As abc news australia It turns out, Gloster is now seeking official recognition as the world’s oldest working mechanic, which would surpass the current record holder, Italian mechanic Fabio Sabbioni, who was 97 when Guinness confirmed his achievement in late 2024.
eight decades under the hood
Gloster’s association with AJ Gloster & Sons dates back to childhood. His father, Arthur “Joe” Gloster, had founded the garage in 1925, and Ray joined the business in 1943. Nearly a century later, he is still coming to work, even though he has left the heavy mechanical work to younger members of the family.
“I don’t take work away from guys,” Gloster said. ABC News. “But they often need a little help holding something. I pick up tools and fill different containers, and I change tires.”
His memories span almost the entire history of Australia’s automotive industry. He remembers when his father sold the Chevrolet for £200 and he well remembers the arrival of the first Holden FX in 1948, a model he still considers his favorite vehicle to work on.
While modern technology has transformed the industry, Gloster is unconcerned about electric vehicles, especially in rural Australia.
“We are not particularly interested in them,” he said. “Here in the country, I can’t see electric cars taking over because if you have a problem you’re too far away from help.”
Five generations of family business
The Workshop represents much more than Gloster’s personal career. It has become one of Australia’s rare five-generation family businesses.
His sons, Doug and Robert Gloster, have operated the garage for more than four decades, while grandson Cameron and great-grandson Frankie now work with them. Frankie, 17, spends two days at the shop every week studying for Year 12, although he has not yet decided whether he will continue the family tradition full-time.
In addition to repairing vehicles, Gloster and his family have played important civic roles in Underbool. Ray served as a justice of the peace, conducted film screenings at the town hall, led the local hospital board and bowls club, and recalled how his father helped bring electricity to the community in the early 1930s.
Guinness recognition could be next
Although Gloster is already older than the current Guinness record holder, official recognition requires extensive documentation, including proof of age, employment history, proof that he has continued to work as a mechanic within the past year, and photographs documenting his decades in the trade. His family is now collecting that evidence.
However, retirement is not on his agenda.
Gloucester said with characteristic humor, “Though I can still walk, yet I will come and, you know, make a nuisance of myself here.” “If they don’t want to see me in the workshop, I’ll sit here and do some Sudoku.”
For enthusiasts who appreciate automotive history as much as horsepower, the story of the Gloster offers an extraordinary portrait of craftsmanship, family continuity and a lifelong dedication to keeping cars on the road.
