The history behind Terceira’s North Shore Shell in Smith’s dates as far back as owner, Ralph Terceira can remember. It all started when visionary Malcolm Ralph Terceira moved his family to the property in 1961.

His son, Ralph says the business evolved along with the changing times in Bermuda — from a horse stable to a gas station.

“Around the cottage my father built a garage, later a horse stable and a body shop. We also had pigs, so it was a complete garage and house right in the middle of it all,” he recalls.

“He then developed a taxi business and probably had in excess of 50 taxis at one time. That necessitated having a fuel pump, so we had one right outside the front door.

“It was available 24 hours a day to anyone needing gas. Later on, my dad had discussions with Shell and agreed to sell part of the property if they could get permission to build a gas station here.”

Although Mr. Terceira cannot recall the exact date the family opened the station, sometime between 1967 or 1968, he says it was not long before they started building again: “A few years later we did some excavation work in the back and added a garage and body shop.

“For many years this was a full service facility with a complete garage, body shop, towing service and gas station.”

The Terceira’s owned the most complete service station and garage on the Island and in 1984, he bought the business from his father.

However, it was not until recently that Shell discussed renovating the premises: “We took a long term plan to focus on the gas station and convenience store business.”

HWP now operate the garage and towing business at the rear as Terceira’s continues with the newly renovated gas station and store.

“It is a more modern facility that suits today’s demands for a service station/convenience store and is open from 6.30 a.m. until 10 p.m. during the week and from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sundays,” he explains.

The renovations started early in September last year by C+N Construction and completed not only on time in late January, but also on budget.

Mr. Terceira recalls how, as a child, he used to accompany his father to collect horses from the Queen of Bermuda in Hamilton and walking them back to the Smith’s Parish property where they were sold a few days later.

“I remember working 12-hour days here with my father when I was a child,” he chuckles. “I also remember getting on a horse at 9 a.m. and riding to the Bank of Butterfield in Hamilton, tying up the horse and going into the bank with my saddle bags to make the daily deposit.”

Continuing in the tradition of being a family run business, Mr. Terceira’s son Teddy works full time alongside his dad, while the younger son, Michael, works part-time as he is still in school.

Mr. Terceira has seen the business change tremendously since the 1960s and remembers the days when the roads were dominated by cars from England.

While the 1970’s saw a huge shift towards Japanese vehicles, something he believes changed the garage business: “Japanese vehicles were more fuel efficient and were much more mechanically reliable, needing less service and repair work.”

Mr. Terceira believes what makes the North Shore service station so attractive and what keeps customers coming back is its location and their “out of town” atmosphere: “It’s not as busy as the city and our service is also more personal. We have excellent staff who are committed to meeting our customers’ needs.”

Terceira’s is well-known for its annual Lion’s Day “Gas-O-Rama” fundraiser, when the entire day’s profits are donated towards a local charity.

This is something Mr. Terceira’s father initiated in 1968 which continues today and hopefully, he believes, will be a tradition the family will carry on for years to come.