Fantastic Plastic: Corvettes, Craftsmanship and Quality

by Jim Garrison

The road to owning Fantastic Plastic auto body shop (Clifton) may not have been a perfectly straight one, but for Mike MacMullen, it always seemed to point in the same direction.

Cars were never just a business opportunity for him. They were part of his upbringing, his work ethic, and eventually, the foundation for a shop that has earned decades of trust in the community.

MacMullen’s love of cars goes back as far as he can remember, and much of that passion came from his father. After high school, MacMullen spent a short time working in his father’s electrical business, but he soon found himself drawn back to what felt natural: working on cars in the driveway, just as his father had done before him. When the opportunity came to build a career in auto repair, he recognized it for what it was. It was not simply a job; it was the beginning of a life’s work. As he puts it, “I love what I’m doing. I’ve never had to work a day in my life.”

His first shop was in Rutherford where MacMullen focused more on the mechanical side of the business while his partner handled body work. The partnership ultimately did not last, but the experience proved valuable. MacMullen learned what it took to run a business, and he also began to see that collision repair offered a more stable and promising path than general mechanical repair at that time.

After the Rutherford partnership ended, MacMullen took some time to decide what would come next. Sitting still, however, was never really his style. His longtime love of Corvettes soon became the next chapter. “I always had a love of Corvettes,” he shares. “I fixed a lot of them.” He began buying older Corvettes, restoring them, and selling them. Before long, customers started bringing their own cars to him, and many of them kept coming back.

That steady customer demand helped shape the future of the business. What began with Corvette restoration gradually grew into a broader collision repair operation. MacMullen was no longer just fixing cars for resale or taking on the occasional customer project. He was becoming a fully integrated collision repair professional, building both the technical skill and the reputation needed to serve a wider range of drivers.

And if you have ever wondered why a collision repair shop would be called “Fantastic Plastic,” the answer goes back to those Corvettes. After he restored a 1967 big-block Corvette for a Clifton police officer, the officer looked at the work and told him, “Your business should be called Fantastic Plastic.” The name stuck. By the late 1980s, MacMullen had grown the business into a full-service collision repair shop for all makes and models. He considered changing the name at one point, but after years of recognition – and with the name already associated with quality work – there was no turning back.

As the business grew, MacMullen needed more room. He eventually found the right location in Clifton: a closed-down auto business with the potential to become something lasting. He purchased the property, made it his own, and Fantastic Plastic has called it home since 1985.

Today, the shop operates with four full-time employees, along with office manager Angela Showalter, who has been his right-hand woman for more than 25 years. MacMullen will tell you he may come across as tough, but he is fair – and his team knows it. “I’m a small shop, but my people can see that I know what I’m doing,” he says. “I’ve done these jobs myself, and I can relate to them.” Over the years, some employees have learned their craft at Fantastic Plastic and gone on to bigger opportunities. Others left and eventually found their way back.

“I’ve been lucky,” he reflects. “For the most part, I’ve had good people here.” Of course, it may also be that he has a strong instinct for recognizing character, dependability and work ethic.

As for the future, MacMullen is realistic about where the collision repair industry may be headed. Larger shops and corporate operations continue to reshape the landscape, and he knows the days of small, highly personal service may become harder to preserve. However, MacMullen sees his AASP/NJ membership as a way of staying connected to industry on a personal level, and in turn, connected to his customers. That personal connection remains central to the way he does business. “The big shops look like where we’re headed,” he said. But as long as his name is on the business, MacMullen is clear about one thing: customers will continue to deal directly with him.

That hands-on approach is a big part of what has kept Fantastic Plastic going for so long. The name may have started with a clever comment about Corvettes, but over time it has come to represent something larger: craftsmanship, consistency and a shop owner who still believes that doing the job right – and treating people fairly – matters.

Want more? Check out the August 2026 issue of New Jersey Automotive!