Genial Herbert (Rudi) Rudloff, you might say, is a man of three countries. Rudloff, owner and quality assurance manager of Rudi's Autohaus Stuttgart, was born in Argentina, raised and educated in Germany and, then, established a successful Mercedes Benz repair business in the United States.

   Rudi takes pride in the work his small but efficient automotive service company can do for his customers.It is not unusual to find him at a desk, directly in front of the office doors, to meet those in need of mechanical assistance for most models of Mercedes Benz automobiles. "I love this work," says the father of two daughters. "I guess I always knew I wanted to do this when I worked on Mom's washing machine or a bicycle. I've had a knack at working with tools and I'm extremely happy with what I do".

   In Germany, the equivalent of a high school education was completed at 13, so he entered a technical school. "I had four years training with automobiles...just like a college," he remembers. "The first two years I spent a lot of time on theory...learning how things work...hands on type of training. You must remember, though, in those days there was no computer technology. We were still dealing with carburetion, points and distributors. Now that's all history."

    A San Diegan since 1971, he and a partner established his first repair shop at Lemon Grove. Three years later, the business was moved to San Diego where it remained until 1990. Then it was moved to Kearny Mesa. Rudi spends five days a week at his business.

And if there is some time left over, he spends it with his hobby: photography.