Inside the shop, in the middle of the piles of engines and tools and boat motors that define the cramped space, sits such a good car, a pristine 1968 Karmann Ghia convertible with a souped-up engine, a black and yellow hotrod with the flash and horsepower of seven years' labor from one of Hawaii's top VW mechanics.

The Karmann Ghia is just one more piece of machinery being sold off from Cabrera's inventory of cars, parts and tools as he closes the shop he's owned for 27 years at 871 Queen St. in Kakaako.

The landlord, Elroy Hamada, recently closed his nearby H. Hamada Store and plans to demolish the shop and home where Cabrera lives and works with his wife, Vicky. The space will be cleared for a parking lot.

The news that his lease would not be renewed ended a mechanic's career that started with a $1.25 per hour paycheck at Ala Moana Volkswagen in 1958, just about the time that the funny-looking imported cars from Germany were starting to catch on in America.

The work never made Cabrera rich -- the shop posted revenues between $50,000 and $65,000 a year -- but it did earn him a cult following of Volkswagen enthusiasts, people dedicated to keeping their Beetles and campers and Things on the road after even the manufacturer had given up making parts for their air-cooled engines.

Cabrera won't open a new shop. The ridge of a pacemaker protrudes from his chest, a remnant of a heart attack last year. At 76, he isn't up for a big move, he said: "Why keep pushing myself until I croak?"

Thumbing through the planners where he records his work, he ticks off stories of customers and the cars that brought them to his shop.

Dennis Suyeoka owns a 1971 Volkswagen camper with a 1970 engine that Cabrera installed. "When Joe's gone, I won't be able to afford Volkswagens anymore," he said.

Source: [url=http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2007/05/21/story2.html]Milwaukee Business Journal[/url]