Photo: Wikimedia Commons — see author and license on the file page.

Charley's Automotive Service

Route 66 site
In Grants, New Mexico
On Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

Charley's Automotive Service in Grants, NM, is a small roadside complex on the town's Route 66 main street. Charley Diaz built the garage by hand in 1943, later adding a cafe, and after his death in 1995 much of it stayed exactly as he left it, tools included. It is a rare, unpolished look at the kind of family business that kept Route 66 travellers moving across New Mexico.

What is Charley's Automotive Service?

Five buildings made of pumice block, grouped together on Santa Fe Avenue, the stretch of Route 66 through Grants. They include the old automotive and radiator shop, the Star Cafe and the Diaz family home, along with a few sheds. Parked on the property is a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air that Diaz gave to his wife.

The place has gone by other names too, including Charlie's Radiator Service and the Star Cafe Drive-in. Its value lies in how plain and local it is: a one-man roadside business rather than a chain station.

History of Charley's Automotive Service

Charley Diaz, whose name is sometimes spelled Charlie, built the garage himself in 1943 while Santa Fe Avenue was filling up with hotels, shops and gas stations for highway traffic. Over time he focused on two parts New Mexico drivers badly needed: radiators and, later, air-conditioning. In 1949 he opened a small cafe next door, run by his great uncle.

Diaz died in 1995, and the garage, with many of the tools he had used since opening day, was left in place. On February 19, 2010, the complex entered the state's register of cultural properties, and gained a National Register listing in 2017.

Visiting Charley's Automotive Service: tips

This is a private property and a family home, so view and photograph it from the street or public sidewalk and do not enter the grounds. The old Bel Air makes a good picture. Allow ten minutes. The aviation heritage museum in Milan and its flight service station are about 2 miles away, a natural second stop in Grants.