Our Company: Specifically Serving the Air-cooled Community.

German car owners love their cars. The car could be anything from an air-cooled 1946 Split window Beetle, to a Porsche 993 with a full roll-cage on forged race wheels. The sounds, smells, and lines of the car greet their owners every time they approach them for a drive. German engineering seems to uphold one basic principle; mate functionality with beautiful form, and people will love the car. It is that very love of these cars that forms the foundation of Metric Autohaus.

Metric Autohaus is a place where German automobiles are appreciated and treated just as the engineers and designers would have as they rolled from the assembly floor. We repair, restore, modify, and tune all air-cooled Volkswagen & Porsche vehicles. Our company is built on the principles of making quality products and providing reliable service. Our diversified product range continues to grow by following trends, improving our standard products, and listening to the customer. Our unique service has established our place in this industry. This allows us to make a distinctive and substantial impact for our clients.

The two owners of the business, Rob Strain (President and CEO, and Heath Smith (Vice President), have been established in the automotive field since 1984, and have a very good understanding of your automotive needs.  Phil Stratton is the shop foreman, and handles everything from precision carpentry to detail-oriented completion of Volkswagens.  We are anticipating the arrival of Matthew, a student from Kansas who is studying to earn a degree in the Automotive Restoration processes.  We are also welcoming two High School interns, Vasco and Chuk, who will be coming from Charles Herbert Flowers Science & Tech High School to learn more about Automotive Engineering and R&D.

Heath was born in Baltimore, MD. Shortly after moved to PA where he bought his first car, a 1972 beetle, at the bright age of 15. After six months of self teaching, it was semi-restored. A few months after he went to work for a local tire dealer, and started as an oil and tire tech. An ASE master tech taught him the basics and helped him to become ASE certified himself. After a few years, he took a job with Goodyear as a retail sales manager. After taking that job as far as he could, he was sent to a ton of schooling by them to be taught the art of being a service manager and store manager. After the service manager promotion, he got a job offer to move to a private tire dealer and run the entire shop, and parts of the store. At the same time he was very active in the VW community, and restoring cars and going to shows all the time. After being employed by the private dealer for 5 years, he went on to open a restoration shop of his own.

Rob was born in Frankfurt, Germany, ensuring a life-long love of all things German. He began working on German Automobiles at the age of 14, upon purchasing a 1967 Beetle with money from a newspaper-route. Between restoring old houses and earning college degrees in Film Production, English, and Engineering, he always had a car or two that needed his attention. Taking his hobby to the next level, he worked at Peek Performance in the mid '80's to the early '90's. Following that, he moved up the street to the garage of Pat Goss. All of the latest in technology was used there, leaving an indelible impression on him as to the importance of accurate diagnosis of automobiles. Always having racing in mind, he moved to Autoy & Autowerke, where BMWs were raced at Watkins Glen, Sebring, VIR, and Summit Point. The next level in racing was found at Turbo Performance, where he learned how to fabricate and install super-charger systems in Porsche Boxsters, 993, and 996.

Rob gave back to the community by teaching Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Electrical Engineering for 10 years, earning an additional degree in education and becoming certified in Digital Electronics. His interest returned to his first love, cars, when he realized the potential in using the basic principles of electronics to profile fuel injection systems, re-map ignition curves, and even use an oscilloscope to modify signal shapes in today's modern cars' ECUs. Electric vehicles and conversion kits suddenly became apparent as a need in today's energy-driven world. Mechanical and Electrical engineering mated with Materials engineering would be all the tools necessary to create tomorrow's vehicles.

This dedication to technical precision is balanced with the art of crafting something magnificent. With a background in art, paint schemes and airbrushing are second nature, whether it be a stock restoration, or a rolling work of art determined only by the limits of the owner's imagination. The balance of form and function; the ethos of German engineering.

Take three individuals with experience and a dream, add skilled VW crazed enthusiasts who built their shop from the ground up, and a company is born. It may not be a barn in Gmund, Germany, but it is pretty close.

Metric Autohaus is more than simply a repair facility. German engineered motors follow a clear concept in design; mating materials of varying tensile and temperate properties, to expand and contact in concert with one another as thermal and atmospheric changes occur through each day of operation. With this understanding and mastery of this concept, in addition to its research into alternative fueled vehicles, such as hybrid technology and EV cars, Metric Autohaus is a bridge into the future of German Automotive motoring. 

In closing, Metric Autohaus is a place where anything can be done with your car, bus, or whatever your passion is driven by.  To say that we are detail oriented is a gross understatement.  We feel that we are all custodians of these fine automobiles, and each of us carries the responsibility of absolute perfection when maintaining, improving, and restoring these pieces of German automotive history.

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On a personal note, Rob has been a VW fanatic along with his Mom since 1984.  He had a 1960 23 Window Bus, and she had a 1965 European Notchback 1500s.  Much to their disappointment, the cars were stolen from the back yard while Rob was away at college. 

"I vowed to not only get myself and my Mom back into a pair of cool VWs, but do what I
loved for a living."  Unfortunately, Mrs. Sri Kuhns didn't live to see the opening of Metric Autohaus, inc.  due to the carelessness of a drunk driver.  

"Thanks for everything you did for me, Mom!  I finally did it."

Here is a picture of us and our rides in the late '80s.  We wanted to take a picture of us "busting moves" with our rides, perpetrating as if we were rappers.  I am doing my best Vanilla Ice impersonation.  I think she was doing Run DMC.

The funny thing about VW people is that even when they have passed on, their spirits live forever and ever. 

In Loving Memory; Sri Soepeni Kuhns, 10-21-38 to 12-11-05.  We all love you.