I grew up there in Gadsden. According to their web site, they started out as Brice Thomas radiator service. I remember them and think they repaired one of my radiators back in the day. They had a good reputation from the get go.
Seems like another "turn out the lights, the party's over" for our hobby. We are all getting older. Don't want to appear as a vulture circling the carcass, but in Canada, Don's Radiators 1-866-999-6645 makes radiators for our cars. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There's a lot of cases where companies price themselves out of business. Sad for anybody to lose their job.
Sad news indeed. I have Walker radiators on both my "A" and my '40, and they both do a great job of cooling, fast or slow driving. At the age of 83, doubt that I'll be building anymore hot rods, and hopefully I won't bang one up in a wreck. Glad to hear that at least there's a good shop in Gadsden that's picking up the torch. As mentioned above, good help is getting hard to find in ANY business that involves using your hands and (horrors) getting your hands dirty.
I wonder what % of their business was fleet vehicles, or non vintage cars? Maybe their product was too good? I know his personal rides have 200k+ miles running his radiators. Pricing out of business? For a pro shop, why would you not install the best product for your customer available. The cost difference between a $150 product and a $1000 product gets lost in labor when the cheaper product doesn’t hold up or ya have to do a bunch of mods to make it work. I understand it for us home shop builders. Im cheap and run either original or chain parts store items. I guess I’m part of the problem as well.
Very sad news. Great product and they have supported our hobby for decades. I have also noticed that many other street rod companies are out of stock on many items. I checked Walkers web site it appears normal but they really should notify potential buyers.
Yes, sad news. But a little story. In 2012 we were returning home from a rod cruise that ended in Natchez, MS. On the way home we stopped for a couple days in Memphis to see the sites. We had reservations for a morning tour at Sun Records (a must do in Memphis, especially if you've seen Million Dollar Quartet). I pulled up in front of the Walker Radiator shop next door to take a photo. The sign on the door said clearly not to park there if you were going to Sun. As I was taking my photo a guy came out. I assured him I would move ,momentarily. He took one look at my rod and said I should leave it there, he would keep an eye on it for us.
Does the same family own the National Street Rod Association? I always thought it was the Vern Walker who also owned Walker Radiator. I wonder if there are changes ahead for that organization?
NSRA was originally started by Cotton Werksman and Bruce Miller. Cotton built engines and hot rods and Miller, RIP, published Street Rod magazine and had a Deuce roadster. Tom Medley (RIP) was with Petersen Publishing on the staff of R&C and he urged Werksman and Miller to start a national organization. As it grew it got to be too much for them and Vernon Walker and Gilbert Bugg bought it and gave it the organizational skills and staffing it needed. JMO, but that is when it went from “Fun With Cars” to “Let’s Count The Money“.
As has been said many times already, this is REALLY SAD. When I ordered the radiator for my '32 I called in and when a guy answered I said hi, can I talk to someone in sales? The guy answered "Well this is Vernon, whatcha need? Impressed, I said I need one of your Cobra Z ( I think that's correct) for a 32 Ford Roadster to which Vernon replied "no problem". I said but I'm using a Buick nailhead, I can explain where I need the inlet/ outlet and....... he said "that's OK, I know what you need. When the radiator arrived it was gorgeous and perfect. I had to keep in the living room for a few days (limited by wife's patience) just to look at it. They'll be missed.
A couple years ago I was looking for a replacement radiator for my '54 Dodge pickup. Guess what? Nobody is too concerned about making a replacement. Who would have thought that? Anyhow, a friend of mine recommended Orr Radiator in Kansas City, KS. They used my tanks and built a "new" radiator that fit perfectly. Of course is was painted gloss black and was not shiny aluminum. It works great. Not cheap but it works great. The owner, Jim Magerl, began working there in 1974 and bought the business in 2007. Phone: 913-236-8488
Heard a report today from a reliable source that Walker has had offers to buy the business but the family will not let the Walker name go with the business? That has discouraged potential buyers. I don't know if this true.
Gary, I'm not surprised at your post for many reasons. It will be interesting to see if there is a future for this.
That name means a lot as far as selling that quality of radiator goes. Not many people are going to pony up the same price for a "Leroy's radiator even if the exact same crew that made them before the sale was making them to the same exacting standards. The sale price of the business should be a lot less though .
I sure hope they sell the business, and the employees have a change to continue on. But I can understand about selling the name. I wouldn't sell my name.
The value is in the name. But, when you have no control over what then happens to your name...I understand their decision.
Dang. I need a custom shroud for my flathead with an offenhauser head Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I’ve ran walker radiators for years and never had any issues. this last one I needed for a current build (a 36 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck with a Cummins diesel) they couldn’t build it so I called custom auto radiator and they built is with no issues also a u s based small business a lot like Walker so if you have a need in the future I would call custom auto radiator great people to deal with and very knowledgeable Chrome don’t get ya home
I have a Brassworks radiator in my RPU, and ran Brassworks in two previous cars. Never seen their quality matched by anyone!
That may be true, but there's no reason given. Could be ill health, lack of qualified workers, poor management, retirement and old age-lots of reasons. Given the later post stating they'd sell the business but not the name, one wonders what is the rest of the story? It would be best not to paint the blame in this case-although your rant may be well justified in others.
I can see it though. If they wanted to go out on top, this is the way to do it. That way the name doesn't get drug down if the quality gets to be substandard.
Yep, Walker is the gold standard for hot rod radiators. They are going out on top. Sure, there are other manufacturers, but many of them are more expensive, or don't have the product already in their lineup. I guess we will have to have another thread in a year discussing the quality of the replacements.
Anyone had personal experience with Custom Auto Radiator in New Jersey? My '33 has one of theirs and it looks to be a very nice piece.
Bought a CAR for my '37 two years ago. It "fit", albeit it was actually shorter than the original one, and the mounting tabs at the top were not even close. It does it's job though.
Walker packing it in is a sign of the times. How can they compete with all the the Chinese Champion radiators going for $119.00? Got my moneys worth out of the Walker Radiator in my 46 Ford for 20 years and going strong when I sold the car.
The Jalopy Journal
