ROCKPORT — On an early spring Monday morning, the garage and waiting room at Rockport Automotive are humming with energy. Cars are moving around the parking lot, and inside, technicians are beneath open hoods, leaning over engines.

Owner and company vice president Eric Campbell sweeps into the waiting room, where his wife, Jan — and company president — is presiding over the phone, computer and a gaggle of customers. Some are grouped around the counter, others sitting in chairs reading magazines under walls lined with photos and brief biographies of the automotive crew. There is a framed column from Tom and Ray (Click and Clack) about riding the clutch, a Keurig coffee machine is waiting to brew, and a calendar filled with the work of Rockport artist Ann Kilham sits in front of the cash register.

"Pass out some work, sweetheart," Eric says to Jan, placing paperwork beside her before slipping back out the door into the garage. Meanwhile, she is talking on the phone.

"It's making a new funny noise?" she says sympathetically, scheduling an appointment for the worried customer on the other end of the line.

Another customer, James Landi, of Md., is looking out the door as technician Dennis Emery II backs Landi's big 1972 Cadillac El Dorado convertable out of the bay and takes it for a test drive.

Landi has been keeping this Cadillac in the garage of his Camden summer home. He decided to sell it recently, and found a buyer within the Cadillace Lasalle Club. The buyer happens to live in Texas, a young family man who has some time on his hands to have fun with a 40 year-old classic. "He's a Mr. Mom and says he has time to take care of it."

Lanid has another Cadillac, a 1983 convertible.

"These things are like afflictions," he said. "Your parents had one or two, and then it's in your blood."

He called Rockport Automotive to help attest to the quality of the 1972 car, after a "Mainer" recommended the company.

"I'm impressed with the way they do business," he said. "Very professional. The engine bays are clean, and the guys are careful."

The Campbells just recently bought the company and property from Steve Dixon, who has since moved to Iowa to become more active in his church's missionary work. The Campbells began working for Dixon three years ago, and on March 5, they purchased the entire complex, including three pieces of land that sit side by side on Route 1 just west of Rockport Village.

Dixon built and establised Rockport Automotive in 2000, and the business has grown now to be a full-service, family-owned and operated auto repair shop. The Campbells will not, however, continue the second-hand car business. They are selling the land and building to the north, but are keeping the former Dixon house to the south. In the middle, the garage will remain just that, a hub of automotive activity.

Besides the Campbells, the crew consists of Justin Holmes, Dennis Emery II and Andrew Lappin. All bring different backgrounds to the operation, with a variety of certifications.

"We're all specialists," said Eric. "We specialize in our craft."

Jan and Eric have known each other since they met at Camden-Rockport High School. She grew up in Rockport, he in Camden on Megunticook. The couple, living now in Hope, is taking on business ownership as a team; their mission is "to be the first and foremost independent repair facility in the Midcoast region of Maine."

What's the best part of owning one's business?

"This is where I make my niche in the world," said Eric, and turns his full attention back to the engine.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.