There have been some comments made on this site about the demise of Speedway Motors since Bill passed away, and hopefully this will put some of these to rest. Last weekend at the Fremont swap meet, I ran in to Marty Bassett who worked for Bill in the very early days.later moved to Grand Island, then moved back to Loncoln and went to work for Bill again. Marty was working as a street rod tech when I went to work for Speedway as a street rod tech in 2005. Marty has since retired, but remained a friend of Bill. Marty told me that the boys have no intention of selling Speedway, and that sometime before Bill passed away, the mueseum was turned over to the Smithsonian Institute, but that it was stipulated that it would remain in Lincoln. I hope that this will answer some of the questions that I have seen lately on the HAMB.
I think it is like most corporations that started out as a small, one owner company............the man at the helm becomes almost incidental to the daily operations and total direction of the company. The corporation sort of takes on a life of it's own and, although we felt Speedway was Bill Smith, the fact is, he probably let a lot of the day to day functions of the company be decided by other management people within the corporation. Speedway will go on as it has for the past umteen years, because they pretty much have the formula for success worked out a long time ago. I am sure they are making a lot of money and will continue to do so for many years to come. Don
gnichols, I read something like that on here, and as we all know rumors persist about everything going to hell in a hand basket; and, while some are true, others are rumors, and like gossip grow with the re-telling predicting the end of the world, the use of China made crap by vendors who claim otherwise, and a general watering down of the spirits vended, etc. With this in mind, and directing my answer to your question, I suggest, that if you want a better answer than any one person is going to give, that you start a post asking the question if members of HAMB who have done business with Speedway have received their parts in a timely manner; if the parts come up to their expectations based on the information provided by the advertisements and descriptions from Speedway et al; and whether they would do business again with Speedway in the future based on their experience. You might also ask other questions that occur to you that could be answered by those who post replies to your question. As for me, to date, I am generally pleased with the service and parts and would order others when the need arises; the only caveat I can see is that, as we all know, everything is subject to change and I could reverse my opinion based on something that looks and tastes like a lemon when I get one from them. Hopefully not. I always thought of Speedy Bill as the Little Man in the Hat, and will ever have that fond memory of knowing there was a real person making money when I did business with him and not a multinational conglomerate headed by faceless monsters in a glass slab in the major trade center of the world more interested in the bottom line (hence a Made in China or Huecho en Mexico mentality) and not in the quality of a vision that included a reverence for racing in the real world that included sponsoring a sprint car, and keeping touchstones, as per the collection of cars, parts, toys etc., as did Speedy Bill. Of course his heirs and assigns can run the whole operation into the ditch if they forget what Papa had in mind when he opened his shop: quality first, priced happy, and not leaning on the glass top to the show case because you're about to go to sleep. I always figured Bill was excited to have a Speed Shop, not so much because it was a business (he did good there, though) but because it was doing something he loved.
On a recent order, a part arrived with some damage. One phone call and a follow up email to them with a pic and they immediately made it right. Nothing but good service from them so far in the last few years.
The only complaint I have about Speedway, is that it's not located in Houston. That way, I could go get my stuff in person and quicker. As far as rumors, bashing threads and other bull shit goes, I base my decisions about a company on my history with it. Speedway has always done me right.
The Speedy Bill collection tour has been on my "Bucket List" for many years, it should be on everyones. Bob
I've bought a lot off Speedway in the past few years and it's always been a pleasure to deal with them, reasonable pricing, fast and reasonably priced shipping and for the most part quality products. I know they cop flack about Chinese made crap but what vendor doesn't stock at least a little of that so called foreign crap? Unfortunately it's just a sign of the times. I'm a happy customer who will continue to keep doing business with this long established company.. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I just got an order from them this past week. Good service and it arrived two days faster than expected. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yes, the Smith Collection should be on everyones bucjet list. It is an absolutely amazing collection. There is a lot of one off racing engiunes, and much more to look at. A day is not really enough time to do justice to looking at all of that stuff
Glad to hear the collection is with the Smithsonian, its a true HUGE piece of geahead history. When you make your trip to it, go across the parking lot and buy something at the store. Pretty cool to watch the guy punch in your order and the robot grabbing it as he pedals his bicycle down the isle to get your parts.
Who hasnt bought items from speedway? they have great customer service and fast shipping. One set of headlights i bought from them had a knick in the chrome and they exchanged them lightning fast. Never had an issue with speedway.
As a vendor to Speedway, I can tell you that through our conversation's that his 4 sons have No Intention of selling the business or changing the philosophy of how Bill did business. And I can also tell you that Bill was hands on and knew what was going on in the place right to the end.
Sometimes rumors are just that. I visited with a couple Speedway employees whom I consider friends last night in Lincoln. The Smithsonian rumor is not true. The Museum and it's contents will be in Lincoln for a long time to come.
I did not say that it would be moving, but before Bill passed away the museum was given to the Smithsonian, but it was to remain in Lincoln as part of the agreement, and with the money behind them, that is not a bad thing at all
I did not intend to imply the physical location, just that it being willed to the Smithsonian is not true. You and I have been told conflicting things and we can leave it at that. I'm just going by current Speedway employees that I trust 100%.
i've been a customer for decades. i lament speedy bill's demise, but is it a coincidence that their service has improved? used to be about a 2-week wait for an order. bought a couple of "garage sale" items last week and it was at my door in 2 days!
I worked for Speedway from 2005 to 2007, and I never saw orders to take that long, 2-3 days the longest depending where they were shipped to. Customer service has for a long time been a top proriaty for Speedway
Thanks, Malcolm. IF (big 'if) the Smithsonian were to be the future curators of the museum, we would see the historical data change...just a little at a time, but the changes would affect true data. We would witness the Ardun development credited to someone other than Zora Arkus-Duntov, the Cragar history given to someone 'more deserving'. Progressive works well with linkage.
The museum is a tax exempt 501(c)3 non profit and if I remember correctly, it is a Smithsonian affiliate. here is more info: https://affiliations.si.edu/DetailPage.asp?MenuID=44
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