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Melissa Hannan, founder of Girls N Gasoline. Photo by Jim Huang.

Melissa Hannan, founder of Girls N Gasoline with her incredible 1959 Chevy Parkwood. Photo by Jim Huang.

Girls N Gasoline: workshops for women

We get under the bonnet at a female-focused mechanic workshop.

“You don’t know how to change a tyre?” It’s a common response to my admission of automotive incompetence. My ignorance of all things mechanical is especially embarrassing given how long I’ve worked for the AA. So, I decided to do something about it.

Melissa Hannan has been running Girls N Gasoline, her basic mechanic workshops for the last 18 months. Designed to provide a safe, non-judgemental space for women to gain knowledge of their vehicles, her workshops are a great place to upskill. 

Melissa Hannan in her Christchurch workshop. Photo by Jim Huang.
Melissa Hannan in her Christchurch workshop. Photo by Jim Huang.

In her Christchurch garage Melissa pops the bonnet of a white Toyota Corolla and I peer nervously at the unfamiliar metal components that make up a bog-standard engine.

A qualified mechanic, Melissa has been working with cars since she was 15 years old.

“I started doing automotive engineering at high school,” Melissa says. “We got to spend time in a mechanic workshop and after a year the guy who took me on offered me an apprenticeship. I’ve been doing it ever since!

“I like being hands-on and being physical. I’m really a doer, so I like to be active in a workshop.” 

Evidence of Melissa’s practical skills is parked next to the Corolla in her garage: a 1959 Chevrolet Parkwood station wagon. It’s a behemoth of a car at more than five metres long, all cherry red and winged chrome. “I brought it in from the States about ten years ago,” Melissa says. “It wasn’t running, and it took me nearly a year to get it working and on the road. I’ve driven it from Auckland all the way down to Invercargill and The Catlins – all over New Zealand really.”

Melissa explains why it's important to know how to properly jumpstart a car. Photo by Jim Huang.
Melissa explains why it's important to know how to properly jumpstart a car. Photo by Jim Huang.

The opportunity to teach others came about when Melissa got talking to friends about their car knowledge. Or lack of it.

“A lot of my friends didn’t know the basics of how to maintain their vehicle, they’d never done it, so I realised that there was something there. If you can drive, you should really know how to do some of these things.

“I’ve been in the trade for so long that it’s easy to forget what people don’t know. So many people have never been taught this stuff, and it can seem scary if you don’t have the knowledge. I would be the same if I had to go into a plumbing place! I want to give people that little bit of confidence so they can go into a Repco or a mechanic shop and not feel daunted.

“I’ve realised that I really love teaching people,” Melissa continues. “And I wanted to make a comfortable space for women. That’s why I put on food and refreshments – I don’t want people to feel like they’re coming to study, it should be a fun outing.”

Melissa demonstrates how to pop off a hubcap in order to change a tyre. Photo by Jim Huang.
Melissa demonstrates how to pop off a hubcap in order to change a tyre. Photo by Jim Huang.

Under the bonnet, Melissa runs me through how to check the car’s oil and coolant, noting where the levels should be and why it’s important to check.  

“I always tell people that if you check regularly, you’ll be able to keep that maintenance up before it becomes an issue.”

She covers off changing wiper blades, checking tyre pressure and how to jumpstart – information that is imparted with a word of warning: “jumpstarting another vehicle the wrong way can blow computers and do thousands of dollars’ worth of damage,” Melissa says. I pay close attention to where and how she attaches the jump cables.

In her workshops, which she holds all around the country, Melissa limits the numbers to eight people, “otherwise not everyone can see under the bonnet or have a turn on the tools,” she explains.

“I’ve had girls as young as 13 come along with their mums. I’ve had retired ladies whose partners have passed away and they want to get some confidence with their cars. There’s a full range of ages.”

There is satisfaction in learning new mechanical skills. Photo by Jim Huang.
There is satisfaction in learning new mechanical skills. Photo by Jim Huang.

We get to the bit of the workshop that I came for: the tyre change. Melissa explains how the car needs to be on flat ground, how you need to loosen the wheel nuts before jacking it up, and where the jack needs to sit in between the notches behind the front wheel. She talks me through the steps as I get my hands dirty.  

It’s quite a revelation to jack up a vehicle, physically lifting it off the ground by myself. I spin off the pre-loosened nuts and slide the wheel onto the ground. To put it back on I sit, as Melissa instructs, with my feet on either side to lift the wheel onto the car, then once lowered, I use my body weight to lever the nuts tight again. “I tell people not to worry about doing them up too tight; we’re not going to be strong enough with the tools that we have available to over tighten,” Melissa reassures me. 

Getting the tyre back on the car. Photo by Jim Huang.
Getting the tyre back on the car. Photo by Jim Huang.

“You did it!” she says, as I wipe down my grubby hands, feeling unexpectedly proud of my newfound skills. It’s barely scraping the surface of all there is to learn about cars, but I no longer have to hide when someone asks me about changing a tyre. 

This story is from the Spring 2025 issue of AA Directions magazine.

Jo Percival

By Jo Percival
Jo Percival is the Digital Editor of AA Directions magazine.