Our history
Fleet Image didn't start as a big operation. In 1976 Roy and Pam Browne opened a small workshop in Te Awamutu called Roy Browne Car Painters. With a team of just four, the business quickly built a reputation for honest service and great workmanship.
What really set Roy apart was his willingness to invest in new technology and stay ahead of the industry. In the late 1970s he became one of the first panel shops in New Zealand to install a spray booth with a baking oven. Vehicles could be painted in a controlled environment and then baked to cure the finish, which meant better quality paintwork, a more durable finish and faster turnaround times.
It was a bold move. At the time it was considered high tech, and work started arriving from all over the North Island. It helped build the reputation that Fleet Image still carries today.
Back then, success was simple, and it's a philosophy that still guides us today:
Do the job properly. Treat customers well. Stand behind your work.
Over the years the business kept growing alongside the automotive industry. New technology, new facilities and new opportunities took it well beyond its roots, and what began as a local panel and paint shop became Fleet Image, with three branches across the Waikato and Auckland and nearly 90 skilled people.
Fifty years on, we're still family owned and run. The scale has changed, but the values haven't. Every vehicle that leaves our workshops carries our reputation with it, and that's something we never take lightly.
The next generation
Kris (Roy and Pam's son) and Glenn both started at the business as teenagers, emptying bins and helping out on the workshop floor, before beginning their apprenticeships at 16. Today, they run the business together.
Roy most definitely didn't ease them in. From early on, he made sure they learned how the business worked, not just the trade.
In 1996, with their apprenticeships barely finished, Roy sent Kris, then about 20, to Hamilton to open a new workshop just for trucks. He handed Kris a book of customers and left him to it. It was sink or swim, and the boys swam!
Roy gave them room to try new ideas and learn from their mistakes, and one of those ideas was a new name. The business had been trading as Roy Browne Car Painters, and the Hamilton shop opened as Roy Browne Truck Painters, but with Roy's name above the door, customers still wanted to deal with Roy himself, so in around 1998 the business became Fleet Image, a name that suited the growing focus on trucks and fleet customers.
Since taking over, Kris and Glenn have kept building on what Roy started, including buying the Auckland business in 2016 to expand Fleet Image's reach. As Kris puts it: “Dad always said to me and Glenn to make it bigger, and we've done that.”
NZ Truck & Driver, February 2025
A Southpac Legends profile of Glenn, from his first part-time job at Roy Browne Car Painters at 13 to co-owning Fleet Image with Kris.
Read the articlePanelTalk magazine
The story of the business from Roy and Pam’s first workshop in 1976, through the tough years and big contracts, to the three branches we run today.
Read the article (PDF)Our history
1976
Roy and Pam Browne open a small workshop in Te Awamutu with a team of four.
Late 1970s
Roy installs a spray booth with a baking oven, one of the first in a New Zealand panel shop. Work starts arriving from all over the North Island.
1991
Kris Browne and Glenn Tervit, who started out helping in the workshop as teenagers, begin their apprenticeships at 16.
1996
Kris heads to Hamilton to open a second workshop, set up just for trucks.
1998
The business takes on the Fleet Image name, to match its growing focus on trucks and fleet customers.
2002
The Hamilton branch opens at 28 Foreman Road.
2007
The Te Awamutu team moves into its purpose-built workshop on Alexandra Street.
2016
Kris and Glenn buy the Auckland business, bringing our fleet and commercial vehicle work to the Auckland region.
2026
Still family owned and run, with nearly 90 people across three branches.
Customers since the beginning
We're proud that some of the first fleets we painted are still coming to us today. Their trucks have changed a lot over the years, and we've been there for every new livery and every new truck.
Dibble Transport has been with us since the very beginning. Their trucks were coming through our doors back when the sign out front still read Roy Browne Car Painters, and they still are today. We've looked after everything from their early Macks and Kenworths through to the current fleet.
PGF's yellow, black and red trucks are some of the most recognisable on the road, and they've been a part of Fleet Image from the start. We've painted everything from their early Fodens and Kenworths to the fleet they run today.
Winstone Aggregates has trusted us with its trucks for decades. The blue and white livery has stayed true over the years, while the trucks underneath have changed from Isuzus to the Volvos and DAFs on the road today.
Alexander Group's two-tone blue trucks have been a regular sight in our workshops for many years. From their Mercedes-Benz bulk tankers to the Freightliners that followed, we've kept the fleet looking sharp. More recently, we were proud to be one of the businesses that helped restore BLU500, a legacy truck that holds a lot of history for the Alexander family.
From the archives
Send us a message, or give your nearest branch a call. We're always happy to talk through what you need and give you a straight answer.