Folks Of Interest Your first visit to a Speed Shop

1977....I had bought a 4bbl intake from a friend, and got a Quadrajet from another friend. I decided to swap it onto the 283 in the 61 Impala ragtop, at the second friend's house, on a Friday afternoon. Friend said we could re use the old intake gasket...of course, he wasn't as knowledgeable as he could have been. Ended up leaking water, so next morning I went to Don's and got a new gasket, put it back together, and it worked fine. the date on the receipt is 5/21/77, if you can't read it.

Don's is still there on Stone Ave, although Leo's next door, isn't a parts store any more. I should go visit again, they're having a get together this morning, but now it's an hour and a half away...

 

You will regret not going. I know when I get a chance to meet up with old friends nowadays I take it.

 

Jocko's Auto Parts in Newton, IA was the one I first had any real experience with. They had a machine shop and could do quite a bit of engine work, and what they couldn't do I would take to Arnold's Motor Supply in Marshalltown. I built a real good running .030 over 350 SBC that I stuck in a 1973 Nova, and later on it ended up in my 1940 Ford pickup.

 

Tennessee Speed Sport,,,,,Broadway,,,downtown Nashville,,,,at least back then .
It was 1979,,,I was 16,,,,my oldest brother took me,,,it was heaven,,,,LoL.
Bought parts for my first engine ,,,a 1970 Chevy 350,,,,had a wonderful time .

Tommy

 

The local "Super Shops" (late 60's) building was finally ripped down about two weeks back in Covina.
Put up by and for the Super Shops . Many years later, when internet shopping took the guts out of brick and morter stores, it finally closed.
It sat empty on and off for years. It was a coupla different companies also. The last was a check cashing place. That was open for two or three years.
I went by and saw just dirt and a skip loader sitting where the building used to be.

Mike

 

Here’s the receipt for an aluminum flywheel (Schiefer?, Hays?) it was 1967 and I don’t recall the manufacturer any more. Speed-Sport was run by Joe Bush, he came to Chicago from Arizona where he had run a shop and sponsored the Speed Sport roadster.
Joe was a knowledgeable and friendly guy.

 

Dougs Racing Stables when they were on the River Road in Puyallup, Wa.
I had a '65 Chev Van 6cyl (van craze era), I wanted to know what Hi-Po performance parts they had for the 6, in the Clifford Research line.

 

Agreed^
You need to take the ride Jim, fire up the Chevy II.

 

Our understanding of speed shop is slightly different. I grew up understanding "Speed Shop" as a place where fast engines and chassis were built. So my first visit to a speed shop the way I understood it would have been in about '57 or '58. Probably before that I just was not really aware of my surroundings priot to that.

Perhaps my first visit to a speed shop would have been Coletti Chrysler Plymouth in Hillsboro Oregon. They built fast chit there but they also sold speed parts.

 

Hey Pork and Beaner, remember Aero Speed?

 

South County Speed Shop on the southern side of the St. Louis metro area. It was about 1.5 Hr away from where I lived (and still do) and went there with a friend who actually had money to spend. Me, on the other hand, found a set of Mallory ignition points for the '49 Chevy I had to drive. I was expecting a major performance boost, but can't really recall the '49 putting me back into the seat after they were installed. The "Mallory Ignition" decal on the window sure looked impressive though!

The other early speed shop experience was Wise Speed Shop on South Hampton in St. Louis. I'd go there with another friend in the evening during the week when we were attending trade school. He too, had money to spend. Me, not so much. For a small town late teens kid (me) who was just car crazy, it was just unbelievable all the the parts they had on display along with wheels and slicks too. Mind overload for sure!

Lynn

 

I can't remember exactly, but it had to be in 1957, because that was the year I got my drivers license. It was "The Big Wheel" on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. As I look back now, it wasn't really a "Speed Shop", more of an auto accessories store. They did sponsor a dragster that ran at "Minnesota Dragways", but any major parts had to be special ordered. They had mud flaps and curb feelers in stock, but if you needed a manifold or a set of heads, it was "We can get that in a week". I bought my first speed parts from them; a Mallory dual point conversion for my '51 Ford. The best thing about it was the "trash can" condenser that had to be mounted on the outside of the distributor. It wasn't as flashy as a set of finned heads, or a dual carb manifold, but it was something that you could point out to your buddies when you opened the hood. That, a chrome "helmet" air cleaner, and acorn nuts on the heads and intake were about all we could afford back then. We also bought a can of "Brasso" and polished the top radiator tank to a blinding sheen.

There was another store, "Champion Auto Parts", on West Lake Street, that was even less of a real "Speed Shop", but it became a regular Saturday trip when the weather was good to go down and hit both places. We seldom bought anything, but we'd brag to our less knowledgeable friends that we "had been to the speed shop".

 

Clarks Auto Accessories in Manitowoc Wisconsin, was 17 in 1971 and was checking out and shifting a Hurst a 3 speed shifter on a display stand stand. Swaped out the powerglide in my first 1964 Chevelle to a 3 speed ( a 4 door bought from my sister for $400.00) but ended up with a cheaper shifter for a while, lusting for the Hurst
Harlan Clark ran this 1967 Chevelle at K.K. Wisconsin International Raceway, little did I know then that I would later own this car for 20 years 2000-2021, had a really good time running it

 

KARBELT . Was the name . Out of business now

went in looking for a shifter for my camaro and was blown away by just everything they offered !!

bought a lot of stuff of them for that car .

Once I got into the trade I found a machine shop in town that specialized in race and performance engines and got all my parts from him

Mississauga engines Ceasar is the dad and his son is mark , absolutely fantastic place.

 

Yes vaguely. ^^^ although I cannot remember why? The name sticks in my head.

I guess "Super Shops" would have been considered to be speed shops. I used them for parts quite a bit in the '90s. My Erson lifters in the Timex was a gift from them.

 

Roxbury dr. Pasadena California circa 1971, Two brother's at the top of the street had a full machine shop in there garage...
My Dad's gone, But he said they Both had matching tri five Chevy's an were pretty regular street racer's..
Now.. official as a teen 1980, "Big Daddys" not to be confused with Garlits, Crusty ol'bastard(John Quinn) that would throw you out of the shop if you didn't know the part # or god forbid you need help... It was a front, I think the real business was mob related...

 

Speedway Motors back in 1963 when it was a small business with a 2 bay service garage for exhaust and motor installs. That was back when Speedy Bill still waited on customers.

 

Probably early 70’s, on Atlantic in Compton, Ca., we had The Service Center, a speed shop and they worked on cars in a 3 bay garage (there were a few in So. Cal.)…..Right next door was Custom City, a motorcycle, mini bike, go kart store, and next to that was Kelly the pin stripper and next to Kelly was a custom auto painter. It was like Heaven……

 

Goodies Speed Shop in San Jose California was the place to go. They were in the same building on Lafayette street from sometime in the sixties (perhaps even earlier) until 10 years ago (?). Then I saw their name on a building that stored classic cars/hotrods and sold parts. And then???? Back in the day they had a window decal cartoon featuring a Corvair with a supercharged V8 in the back that was pretty cool at the time.

 

A very, very long time ago I made my first visit to Grand Automotive in Madison, WI. and Jim Buckmaster the owner got me headed towards life as a gearhead.

 

I live in a huge academic area so there weren't any speed shops close by. You guys will laugh but I had to buy from J C Whitney. Had to go to the Post office and get a money order and mail my order to them. Bought some flathead stuff and other things. Also used Honest Charlie and Gratiot.

 

Probably 73ish. I was 4 years old. Parts store/speed shop. Reminded dad to buy Ujoints, blew the parts guy away. Around that same time got to sit in a running Offy powered midget. Dad was crewing for Hank Albers sprint car. Spent a lot of time in that Quonset hut. Speed was the norm

 

Wise speed shop for me too. I grew up in Salem mo which is 100 plus miles from st Louis. All I knew about st Louis was to take Watson road off 44 turn right at the white castle and wise was 2-3 miles down Hampton. I think the first thing I bought there was a set of headers. About that time I started mail ordering parts easy Jack, mancini, you were lucky to get what you ordered in a month.

 

Town and Country speed shop. It was the only place that had an outdoor hoist. The owner was from California.

 

Not a local shop but I remember Couch Racing (spelling?) that was located in Iowa. It was a mail order place that mailed out a “mimeographed” list of parts periodically. The prices were reasonable although they did not have a large variety. I remember purchasing a NOS Holley two barrel carburetor that was an exact replacement for the center carb on a Shelby tri power set up for a 289. I believe I paid $35 for it.
I might still have one of the mailings in one of the boxes of old car magazines I have.

 

What a trip back in time! First honest-to-goodness speed shop I was ever in was Corbett's Place in Sioux Falls SD. A college buddy took me in there and being a small town kid I was pretty much blown away by what he had stuffed into a 2 or 3 stall garage behind his house. Bought a few small things from him, as much as I could afford on a broke college kid's budget. That, and the fact that I was into O/T VW's and as I recall Mr. Corbett didn't cater much to the overseas brands...
There's an old thread about the shop here on the HAMB, with a few pix too:
CORBETT'S in Sioux Falls S.D. | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

Champion Speed Shop Colma Calif, home of "the worlds fastest Chevrolet dragster" must have been 59 or 60, getting parts for my 48 Club coupe........ ah memories

 

Someone from the Albany NY area will need to correct the spelling, Pfeifer's Speed Shop, shift to Pfeifer's! Early 70's, still in high school and needed parts for the 1st dirt track car, a 57 Chevy limited I bought to race at Lebanon Valley Speedway.

 

Back in 1964, my older Brothers drove me 40 miles to Radke Speed & Custom, to buy a hoop style steering arm for the T Roadster I was building. It was chrome and cost $6.00.

 

by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:27 PM

Early mid 60's, My first purchase from a catalog mail order, J C Whitney, Hot Rod Shop, Milwaukee Wi., Schliepers Speed Shop, Brookfield Wi., Speedway Motors, Lincoln Ne. mail order, fiberglass 27 T-body, I still buy there. I never thought to keep receipts, I've been playing with cars a long time. My Dad never threw anything away ever (parents both depression era) I'm restoring his Midget racer he built when he (Navy Veteran) came home from WWII, I found his receipts from Kurtis Kraft, Grancor, Tomshe, Hamburger Machine Service and others.