Getting a brand new business up and running has never been easy, even in the best of times.
It takes knowledge, vision, dedication, hard work, some money, and a generous portion of
courage to start a business.

In 1955, Harley Lusk and his cousin, L.D. Lusk, Jr., decided that building a collision repair center (or body shop) from the ground up was to be the next phase in their careers. Both Harley
and L.D. were "car people"; they'd worked in the automotive service industry nearly all their
adult lives.

Harley, the oldest son of a Ford and Lincoln mechanic, had spent more than 15 years as an
employee, and later a manager, of one of Knoxville's most innovative and widely known
automotive repair centers, Terminal Garage. In this one building on Depot Avenue, a car owner
could find collision repair; around the clock mechanical services; engine, transmission and
suspension parts; radiator replacement; seat covers; convertible tops; tires; batteries; and towing.

In that environment you learned the car business and learned to survive in it. L.D. Lusk, on the other hand, had taken a slightly different road to learn the car trade. He established an Esso service station in north Knoxville, on Broadway. This service station became a landmark location after World War II for fuel, lubrication, tires, accessories, and road service. Because of his usually pleasant, but often commanding personality, L.D. turned Lusk Esso Service into a major success.

By 1954, these two "car guys" concluded that if they could succeed individually then the rewards might be even greater if they combined their know-how and skills and turned them toward a new venture to be called Lusk Body Company, collision repair specialists. From the day Lusk Body Company opened in 1955, Harley and L.D. were committed to three important business principles: honesty in every area of the operation ; the finest quality workmanship available; and a level of customer service which had no equal, anywhere. Now, more than 50 years later, Lusk Body Company continues to serve Knoxville and East Tennessee with a collision repair center that still stands on those original foundations of honesty, fine quality workmanship and a level of customer service that, today, even exceeds the expectations established by Harley and L.D. Lusk, Jr.