TopStart Trailers founder, Peter Bouzinelos, passed away earlier this year at the age of 75.
Bouzinelos was born in Namea, Greece, in 1950.
He migrated to Australia with his father in 1969, first settling in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, to work in a miners’ kitchen. He was quickly promoted to Head Chef, and was able to save $55,000 with his father – allowing the two to start anew in Melbourne.
In Melbourne, Bouzinelos met his wife, Anne, and the two soon enjoyed a partnership both in marriage and business.
For some time, they ran a small catering service which grew into a thriving reception centre in Malvern.
With his engineering ability and Anne’s bookkeeping skills, Bouzinelos purchased their first truck and trailer and entered the commercial road transport industry.
He refined his trailer designs and systems, and soon grew his single truck operation into an expansive fleet.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Bouzinelos’ business was approached by various companies, including a major car carrying specialist to design new trailers.
For these companies, Bouzinelos’ designs reduced loading times, increased safety and set new benchmarks for efficiency – thus TopStart Trailers was born.
Bouzinelos sold much of his transport fleet in the mid-1990s to focus on manufacturing.
Under his leadership, TopStart developed state-of-the-art vehicle transporters – hydraulic decks and advanced safety features to flexible load configuration – which were used by Australia’s largest automotive companies.
As the TopStart Trailers workshop grew into a modern manufacturing company, its operations moved to Dandenong, Victoria.
At the same time, Bouzinelos trained and mentored his three sons – Jimmy, George and Andrew – sharing the knowledge and values that shaped his life.
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