Our History

Billy LoRusso grew up around engines. As a young man he spent countless hours watching and learning in his father’s shop, absorbing the fundamentals of mechanical work before most kids his age had picked up a wrench.

At just 14 years old, Billy took on his first major project: a frame-off restoration of a 1967 Jeep. Working out of his father’s shop, he discovered a natural aptitude for the trade — one that would define his life’s work.

After earning a degree in Small Business Management, Billy was ready to turn his passion into a business. In 1991, he opened Charlie’s Garage LLC in an empty warehouse on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury, CT. He started with next to nothing — just one toolbox and his loyal dog, Charlie.

In the early years, the shop provided general auto repairs and collision work. Billy simultaneously pursued and earned his ASE certifications while steadily growing the business, adding equipment and expanding the facility piece by piece.

Around 1999, Billy brought on his first staff members, beginning the transition from a one-man operation to a full-service team. By 2010, Charlie’s Garage had shifted its focus toward medium and heavy-duty truck repair and fleet maintenance — a specialty that better matched the region’s commercial transportation needs.

Billy earned additional ASE certifications in medium and heavy-duty truck repair, and the facility was expanded to include heavy-duty wheel alignment equipment, one of the few shops in the Waterbury area capable of handling Class 3–8 trucks.

Today, Charlie’s Garage LLC stands as a NAPA Truck Service Center with a team of skilled technicians, serving fleets and individual truck owners across Waterbury, Middlebury, Wolcott, and surrounding Connecticut communities.