Whatever happened to the local speedshops ?

[MoparMitch]

The last local speed shop here " Speed Unlimited" in Morningside Maryland, closed its doors last year after over 50 years in business. Very sad indeed....

 

[Red63440]

A lot of times it’s not the economy or competition that causes them to close, sometimes there are no family members that are interested in taking over the businesses when the owners retire.

 

[33 IMP]

I went to several of the Super Shops outlets....still have a tee shirt somewhere.....probably doesn't fit me now (material shrinks)
Riverside was one I spent a lot of money with.

I still have parts on my car that I got at a stupid Shops (Super Shops) warehouse sale. Mallory ignition box and coil, and a Mallory 250 pump. All reman, all bulletproof.
We do still have a local speed shop, but I don't know how they stay in business selling intake gaskets and carb fittings.

 

[65Bel]

Any old-timers from the St. Louis area remember County Speed Shop? It was out on the east end of St. Charles Rock Road from the late '50s into the early '70s. It was the go-to place in St. Louis for anything from parts to complete race builds. It went out of business way before there was an internet. I think the cars that arrived in the mid '70s are what killed it.

 

[Dave6T4]

There are still a couple in London, Ontario. Jim's and Performance Unlimited. As others have said, pretty hard to find Mopar stuff, though.

 

[440 PHIXX]

There were quite a few in the Philly area. Locally to me were Watash, and Shislers. There was also BP Ben Pilla, Shaw’s, and most famously Bash, owned by Frank Bash. The Jack Werst Super Stock Superbird had a Bash built Hemi in it. According to folklore, Werst was sent a 512” Hemi from Highland Park to run against Ray Allen’s LS6 Chevelle SS ‘vert at Atco.

 

[ZR9B]

We have 1 in the Detroit area...not as many old hotrod out there anymore.....that can't help.

 

[Fran Blacker]

In CT? Where?

I still go to S-K Speed on Long Island if I'm in the area. I used to live 25 minutes from it, I miss having it close by. They've been around since the mid '60s. They still have a performance machine shop associated with the store, they'll fill your nitrous bottle, have any AN fitting or ARP fastener you would ever want, books, exhaust tubing, turbo parts, fluids, tires, anything and everything. If they don't have it they can get it for you. The kids behind the counter are generally OK, a few have been there for a while now. The manager has been there forever, he knows his stuff.

RPM SPEED Southington CT. it not impressive not worth a trip, really. You'd need to order most things. http://www.rpmct.com/ There is no machine shop or engine building. Accessory bolt on operation.

 

[moparmarks]

I went to several of the Super Shops outlets....still have a tee shirt somewhere.....probably doesn't fit me now (material shrinks)
Riverside was one I spent a lot of money with.

Yep I hung at the Denver Super Shops

 

[Cranky]

There used to be plenty of them. Even when I was in the Navy they had them on base. You could rent a bay with a lift...or no lift, tools, etc. Now there is nothing. Not around here anyway.

The base I was stationed on in Germany had a shop for us to work on our cars but it was one of those things where the ones that ran the shop catered to their friends.....so you had to work with what you could get.....which wasn't much. It sucked.

A lot of times it’s not the economy or competition that causes them to close, sometimes there are no family members that are interested in taking over the businesses when the owners retire.

USA Speed was one where I could get just about anything I needed and without having to 'prepay' on the phone. He liked Ford and Mopar stuff and knew I was good to pay. It was pretty dang good for a lot of years until he died of a heart attack and the shop was closed down. The 'next in line' shop (Clear Lake Speed) always wanted me to pay up front even though he knew me (Chevy guy) so that pretty much made me do the on line stuff once that started happening. If his wife answered this phone, I could usually get what I needed without having to prepay because she knew I was good to pay for the stuff. For some reason her husband didn't like the Mopar guys.....yeah ok, Chevy guy lol

 

[Richard Cranium]

We had New England Speed and Speed Shack, but they are both long gone.

 

[Wojo68]

Unfortunately there weren’t a lot around my area. There was one about 5 min from the house. The guy who owned it was kind of a dink but it was well stocked and he knew his ****. Fast forward 30 yrs. His dink son took over and changed it into a hardware store with a very small automotive section. Couple years ago I went in there looking for some spark plugs. He asked me, what size engine? I said, 440. He asks, is that for a Pontiac? My childhood was ruined!

 

[Wojo68]

We had New England Speed and Speed Shack, but they are both long gone.

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Any idea where in Saugus that was? How did I miss that? Lol

 

[gkent]

We've still got a few up here ... Brant Speed and Custom, Horton's Hot Rods, Karbelt is still around I think as well as a few others. But Jegs and Summit have had an impact up here too. You can't compete with someone who has everything in stock and ships
same day.

 

[gkent]

Keep in mind too that most of the local speed shops were independents. When it was time to retire they just closed the doors. Jegs or Summit are large enough that they'll get snapped up by some large conglomerate.

 

[XS22J8R]

I spent many hours and many dollars at Grand Automotive in Des Plaines Illinois during my youth.
Last I looked the site is a day care center and has been for at least the last 25 years.
I’ve seen some related type shops in more recent times but they focus on the tuner market. That would be where most of the young car enthusiasts demand would be now anyway.
And a few places that cater on the truck and automotive electronics custom parts and installation market.
In fact I bought a set of Amp research retractable running boards with installation on my new 2500 last spring at A-Trendz in Chicago’s far northwest side. A very well stocked and knowledgeable accessories shop.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Same as Home Depot killed small hardware stores

When HD kills the local hardware store nothing will be found.

 

[gkent]

When HD kills the local hardware store nothing will be found.

Nothing has turned me against these big box stores as much as covid has. It just pissed me right off when they shut the doors last year and you could only phone your order in for pickup the next day. Like, my basement's flood NOW !!!

Then there was the limited number of shoppers so you had to wait in a half hour lineup outside - only to find they didn't have the **** you needed once you got inside.

I shop the smaller franchises exclusively now and once inside I don't have to walk as far for what I need. Prices are not so much more as to worry about it and if buying any volume - like limber - they'll usually match big box prices if you ask.

Sorry for the off-topic rant !!

 

[Cranky]

When HD kills the local hardware store nothing will be found.

There was a mom and pop hardware store really close that was in business until recently and they had all the good stuff but no one wanted to buy them out when they retired....and well, they are gone. I remember them since 63 when I moved here.

 

[toolmanmike]

There was a mom and pop hardware store really close that was in business until recently and they had all the good stuff but no one wanted to buy them out when they retired....and well, they are gone. I remember remember them since 63 when I moved here.

Had one up the street as well. They had just about everything and it was nice to be able to park right outside the door and run in for what you needed. I bought my Weber Gas grill's, humidifiers, snow blowers and the like. The owner was a scout leader and a neighbor and friend. They carried parts to fix what they sold and offered home delivery on the large items. Service that's hard to get now days. He sold out and moved on. Sad to see them go. I did my best. Big box took him out. We have Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards within a 10 min drive. He was there before they were but just couldn't last.