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Started by Bruce Connolly. Run today by his son, Ben.
At 113 Fullers Rd, Chatswood, since the doors first opened.
Our Chatwsood based service center still operates today, and undertakes all fitment appointments for East Coast Spares customers
Learn More About Chatswood Brake & Clutch
Bruce Connolly worked at Leyland Australia in Zetland, the Sydney factory behind the Mini and the Leyland P76. When it closed in 1974, he kept working in the industry, in workshops around Sydney, before starting out on his own.
Bruce rented a single hoist at Millwood Service Station, 113 Fullers Rd, with panel beaters renting the rest of the workshop. He traded as Connolly Automotive from day one
Bruce narrowed the focus to brakes and clutches and the business became Chatswood Brake & Clutch.
Some of today's supplier relationships go back to these years, including Exedy (then Daikin Clutch), Traders, IBS/VAB and Angus Trading.
The man who started out renting a single hoist bought the entire property. Bruce rolled up his sleeves and renovated it himself, turning the old drive over pit, dirt floor and 1920s outdoor toilet into a concrete slab and a proper front office.
It was a place to call his own, and it’s the same building East Coast Spares works from today.
Ben swapped labouring on a golf course for an apprenticeship in the family workshop, learning from Bruce on the tools every day.
Once he’d qualified, he headed to London for two years, then came home with a bigger view of the world and the business
Ben stepped off the tools and into the front office, putting years on the hoist to work helping customers find the right part for their cars.
Ben took over the day to day running and bought the business from Bruce.
Ben launched East Coast Spares, growing the range from brakes and clutches into parts for the whole car and taking the business online for drivers right across Australia.
The 4WD and touring range came from his own weekends, spent dirt bike racing and 4WDing.
Delivery and Click and Collect launched, making it simpler to get parts from our Chatswood shop to your driveway.
More than four decades on, the business is still at 113 Fullers Rd. Every year the Chatswood Scouts sell their Christmas trees from the building, and the business proudly sponsors local sports teams.
Brands tried and tested in a real workshop
Some brands on our shelves go back to Bruce's early supplier accounts. Exedy was still Daikin Clutch when we started selling it. Every brand we add has to earn its place the same way: it has to hold up on real cars, in a real workshop.
