Built Here. Since 1972.
What began as a small shop on a farm outside of Onoway has grown into the Jack’s Auto Family — a story built over generations, one customer and one vehicle at a time.
It Started With a Small Shop on a Farm.
Jack’s didn’t start with a big facility or a long list of services.
It started in 1972, when Jack Cooper opened a small shop on a farm just outside of Onoway, Alberta. It was a local shop, built to serve the people around him — and, although nobody knew it at the time, it was the beginning of something that would carry on through generations of the Cooper family.
As the years went on, Jack’s son Dave began working alongside his dad. What Jack had started was becoming a family business, and together they kept finding new ways to help their customers.
One Thing Led to Another.
Jack’s didn’t grow from a carefully mapped-out plan. A lot of the time, it grew because someone needed help — and Jack’s found a way to provide it.
It Started With Getting Vehicles to the Shop.
In 1986, Jack and Dave began towing vehicles for their own shop. It wasn’t originally about starting a separate towing company — they simply needed a way to get customers’ vehicles where they needed to go.
It was a practical solution to a simple problem. Before long, it became clear that their own shop wasn’t the only one that could use the help.
Then Other People Started Calling.
By 1990, Jack’s was towing for more than its own repair customers. Other shops and motorists throughout the area began turning to Jack’s when they needed a vehicle moved.
What had started as a service for the shop was becoming an important part of the business in its own right.
A Call From the RCMP Became Another Part of the Story.
In 1992, Jack’s Towing was approached to assist with RCMP police calls and vehicle impounds. There was a need for the service in the area, and Jack’s was there to help fill it.
It became another step in the growth of the towing operation — and another example of how the business continued to evolve alongside the needs of the community.
And Jack’s Kept Growing.
In 1996, Jack’s Mechanical became part of the story, expanding the family’s automotive services beyond collision repair and towing.
With mechanical repair added to the mix, customers had another place within the Jack’s family to turn when their vehicles needed service.
Dave Takes the Next Step.
In 2000, Dave purchased the business and moved the shop, beginning a new chapter for Jack’s. The location changed and the business had grown a long way from that first small farm shop, but it was still very much the family business Jack had started.
Then Came Another Generation.
In 2017, Dave’s youngest son, Jeremy, purchased Jack’s Mechanical.
By then, Jack’s was more than a business being passed from father to son. It had become a family history spanning three generations, with each generation adding something of its own to what came before.
A Familiar Name Joined a Bigger Network.
In 2019, another chapter began when Jack’s Auto Body joined the CARSTAR network, becoming Jack’s CARSTAR Onoway.
It gave the collision-repair side of Jack’s the support and resources of a larger network, while the people behind the business and its connection to the Onoway community remained very much Jack’s.
From One Small Shop to Three Businesses.
What Jack started on that farm in 1972 has grown into the Jack’s Auto Family — three automotive businesses serving Onoway, Parkland County and the surrounding area.
A lot has changed over the years. There are more buildings, more trucks, more equipment, more employees and a lot more people to help. But each part of Jack’s can still be traced back to where the story started.
And the Story Is Still Being Written.
There’s something pretty special about being able to look at where Jack’s is today and trace it all the way back to one small shop outside of Onoway — and a family that kept building on what the generation before them started.