Since its inception on Valentine's Day 1978, Charlie's Foreign Car Service has grown to become an award-winning cornerstone of the downtown Encinitas business district. Encinitas native Charlie Sougias turned his passion for foreign cars into a career soon after graduating from San Dieguito High School, where he was the auto mechanic of choice for several of his teachers. At age 20, he opened Charlie's Foreign Car Service on the corner of H and Second streets, formerly Vern Painter's Garage.

Charlie's commitment to excellence and personalized customer service earned him a loyal customer base that grew steadily, and led to his first expansion in 1988. Charlie and his wife Shelly, who began assisting with daily operations, purchased property a few blocks north of the original location and built a state-of-the-art 13,000-square-foot repair facility. According to Charlie, “It was a huge commitment, and it set us back financially, but we wanted to invest in the future of downtown.”

Charlie's success was recognized by the German-based Robert Bosch Company, a world leader in precision auto parts, which in 1987 designated Charlie's Foreign Car Service as the first Bosch Authorized Service Center in the US. Charlie already had developed a valuable relationship with top auto repair specialists in Europe. Together they would meet in Encinitas and overseas to exchange ideas and innovations in auto repair technology. “Sometimes I learned things from them, and other times they looked at what I was doing and applied that knowledge in Europe,” Charlie recalls.