Auto mechanics, or grease monkeys as they were once called, have gone the way of rumble seats and mechanical brakes. In their place are highly

paid computer technicians, and they are in very short supply, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"The market for technicians - we don't call them mechanics anymore - is very competitive," said Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, a trade group representing the vast majority of the state's 350 franchised new-car dealerships. "The good ones are like baseball players. They can just about write their own

paychecks," Kitzmiller said. "A good technician can make $70,000, $80,000 or $90,000, or more. A lot of them make that."

Denise Patton-Pace, a spokeswoman for Automotive Retailing Today, a coalition

of auto manufacturers and dealers, blamed the shortage of technicians on stereotyping and parents' misunderstanding. She said a negative image of auto repair has deterred young people from choosing a career under the hood.