Don’t let the red stilettos fool you.

Patrice Banks can wield a pretty wrench under the hood, and she’s throwing that wrench into the traditional auto industry by bringing a wildly popular phenomenon to Upper Darby with her revolutionary Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center.

“I didn’t grow up in the auto industry. I’m not here for the automotive industry. I’m here for women, and I’m here to help make my contribution to empower women and change the world,” she said in a Tire Business report by Kathy McCarron.

That attitude is resonating with women across the Philly area — well ahead of Banks’s anticipated mid-October grand opening for her Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center on West Chester Pike. She’s actually a pioneering engineer and former DuPont manager who has taught car-care clinics for women in recent years.

“I traded high heels and an air-conditioned office for boots, Dickies, and grime-covered hands,” she said. “The reason was simple: I was tired of feeling like an auto airhead and getting scammed by the male-dominated car-care industry.”

Her innovative vision for Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center is to hire three female mechanics and offer a while-you-wait nail salon called the So Clutch Beauty Bar. It’s seizing an opportunity, and making a statement at the same time.

“If you’re really listening to what I’m saying is, the need is, ‘Here’s your No. 1 customer saying she doesn’t like this experience. She’d rather do this (manicure) than take care of her $30,000 investment. She’d rather spend $30 on her nails than $30 on her car.’”

Click here to read much more about Banks and the Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center coming to Upper Darby in Tire Business.