The fire, which police say is being treated as suspicious, started in bushland behind the business on Sunday afternoon.

Emergency services were called to Macleay Valley Automotive on Angus McNeil Crescent at 4:45pm.

Business owner Ross Mitchell said the scene had been chaotic.

"We had to go stand on the other side of the road in the end because the black smoke just filled this whole area — it was crazy," Mr Mitchell said.

"[The street], it was just chock-a-block of people, and cars turning up and people asking us how we were."

Devastating for owners:

Mr Mitchell's son, Gianni Rigoni (Above left) , who manages the business started by his parents and himself, said the damage to the car yard was devastating.

"It's really hard. We've grown this business for nearly 16 years now, and to see something like that ... we've had maybe one or two cars burnt out, but not 40," Mr Rigoni said.

He said he and his parents had managed to clear out the workshops after being alerted to the fire.

"We emptied out all the workshops, we saved our two dogs that we have guarding the workshop," he said.

"There's a couple of thousand litres of oil inside the workshop which would have kept going for ages, so we're just lucky it got nowhere near it."

Customers lose vehicles:

Mr Rigoni praised the "Fantastic" response from emergency services.

"They got in and just kept on going and going and couldn't thank them enough, otherwise we would not actually have a workshop itself," he said.

As the family awaits assessment from insurers, Mr Rigoni said the damage bill was likely to be more than $200,000.

He said they had heard from a lot of upset customers, some of whom had been with the business for years.

"And [there's] also too a lot of vehicles that we won't be working on now or if they were done, customers aren't going to be able to get their vehicles back," he said.

The business is continuing to operate.

Police have appealed to the public for information about the fire.

Original Story By | Alexandra Jones & Luisa Rubbo