Folks Of Interest The Truth About Speedway... Part 1

I don't think Speedway did anything wrong.. HRWs had to know the possibility of Speedway copying their design as they have with other parts and frankly, I'm glad Speedway is in business.. I use them a lot..

 

Luke 16:13-
"Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
It's that simple folks. Either your soul is up for sale to the highest bidder or it's not. off/on, positive/negative, open/closed, right/wrong. I can't justify giving up my integrity for a dollar and I'll probably die poor. So be it. For what does it profit a man..................

 

The problem with many of these discussions is that there are always two sides to the story, and we are only reading one of them second hand. In my world in the Marine Industry it isn't uncommon to take a product in-house. Yes, money is often an issue - can I build it cheaper than I can buy it. But often there is more to the story.

As often as not, it is self preservation. Any hold-up in production costs us money. A great mom & pop company, with great people, who cannot keep up with production demand, timelines, quality standards, or warranty support . . . is a potential liability to me and my product. Often, that liability has to be eliminated by taking the process in-house (be it in-house or vendor produced). We don't have enough info here to know if there was another issue to the story, or if Speedy was just predatory.

I guess I am uneasy with "going to print" so to speak with only half of the story. You say you want the truth, but prior to having it you print rumors, and essentially defame a company, without any facts to back it up. To me that raises questions about your journalistic ethics to the same level as the lack of ethics you imply upon Speedway.

(sorry, you asked)

 

Let's see, Bill Gates stole "Windows" from Apple. Apple stole the "I Phone" from Samsung. Seems like regular business practice to me, so why whine about Speedway? Forget it and move on.

 

AMEN!!
I guess I am uneasy with "going to print" so to speak with only half of the story. You say you want the truth, but prior to having it you print rumors, and essentially defame a company, without any facts to back it up. To me that raises questions about your journalistic ethics to the same level as the lack of ethics you imply upon Speedway.

(sorry, you asked)[/QUOTE]

 

On the "lost art" of making stuff...we live in a different world in several ways.
MORE of us have access to the needed weaponry now than in any time in the history of rodding. Good welders are readily available within reasonable income limits, all power tools are now MUCH cheaper in terms of income than they were in the days of tradition, tools like English wheels, shrinkers, and such exist in forms that an amateur can aspire to.
Most of this was WAY beyond amateur budgets, strictly pro stuff, until very recently.
On the other hand...in the past you could cut some metal carefully in the basement with a borrowed hacksaw and take your pieces downtown to get the final cut and welding done by a real welder and a real machinist. Try that now...to afford doing your wretched single part, the pros need prohibitive amounts of money just not to lose ground.
I suspect that what we have lost is the time in lives filled with frantic, mandatory busywork to take our toys and learn how to really melt that metal and absorb the lost time as well, the time lost making 5 radius rods before attaining something even as good as a Chinese one from Speedway...
I personally will happily buy a tool to do something for 5 times what it would cost to have a mechanic do it....but finding time...?? I often envy the ease offered in streetrod catalogs, just buy everything on pages 20 to 25 and screw it together...there's your deuce chassis! I am blocked from that by my own crazy attitudes about real Ford scrapiron. I spend 5 times as much for my raw material, and now I need another lifetime to chip off the rust and put it together...

 

Speedways new catalog cover car?
Sorry just had to lighten this thread up. I will buy the best part available from a company with good service. Big or Small. Speedway's service has always been good for me. I just hope the parts continue to be..

 

I really don't think everyone wants to run Speedway out of business for this action....
We need the big part suppliers in our hobby. Small suppliers don't offer everything we need or as fast as we demand it. If it wasn't for the Summits and Speedways of the world. Our hobby would only be practiced by those who actually have the large amount of time to be innovative. I am sure we all, especially our wives, feel we spend plenty of time puttering round the garage...
I wish this thread would change Speedways practices and really don't expect a Number 2 addition...
Maybe its just a realization that business is dog eat dog and we are just lucky to have them available. The original Hotrodders didn't have a 1-800 to call. Why did we idolize them?? Just for that reason...

 

One thing that we can't take away from companies like Speedway and Summit, to name a couple, is that they know how to treat a customer well. Every employee I have talked to at both of these companies has been professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. That goes a long way for me.

We have a speed shop that is about 15 minutes from my home and I would LOVE to do business with the guy but he is an ass. New York attitude (sorry, NY guys ) he never greets you or even looks up from what he is doing when you are standing there. He will finally look at you and you have to do all the talking because he doesn't contribute anything to the conversation. I have gone in there maybe 4 times over the years, thinking he might have changed, but each time I leave pissed. So I come home and dial up Summit and spend my money there.

That is the reason I defend companies like Speedway, every transaction is pleasant, my order comes fast, and I get exactly what I ordered. Give me those ingredients and I am a happy camper.

Don

 

If you don't want someone to copy what you do, you get a patent. That is its purpose.

As an engineer in a manufacturing facility. If I cannot get a product from you for the price I want, and you do not have it protected, and I can make it as good or better than yours I will.

If I create something that I don't want copied I spend the resources ( time and money) to get it protected. We have many patents and they have been used to stop people from doing what everyone is complaining about. Many of the Chinese/ Taiwan manufacturers don't care about patent protection, but the vendor sure does.

 

Companies like Speedway take another's design and run with it because.....they can, and have the means to do it. That's the unfortunate long and short of it.

 

Does anyone remember HERTERS outdoor catalog years ago. They infringed on any patent they could and got away with it, because it was to costly to challenge them. Sounds like a similar story.

 

This is kind of a scruples question, I'm not sure if it even has an answer.

What if big ol' Speedway was cranking out thousands of these things first, in China, then HRW started making theirs, identical in every way, but in the USA?

What if the little guy developed it but had it made overseas, then the big guy copied it, but made it here?

Technically, the issue of copying shouldn't change depending on where it's made, or whether the little guy or big company was first to market, or did the developing. But I bet if some of those roles were reversed, people would change their attitudes, or at least, cloud the issue.

In the end, both companies are making a part that is based on an original Ford part, even if it is long out of production and reworked to be stronger/better/easier to use. Now who's coping who?

 

I would be very interested to see what the reaction would be if Speedway was not an American based company. If they were based in China and using questionable ethics to develop new products I bet the tune would be of a different nature for a lot of guys

 

To Ryan: just finished reading Speedy Bill's book...you might want to read it.


If you don't go first class, your heirs will!

 

Thanks, Don. You saved me a bunch of writing. Business is business. Successful businessmen don't wear "Rose Colored Glasses". Big business is, a lot of cut throat and dirty. Why? Because deep inside, WE are too. Look behind the scenes of Ford, Chevrolet, Edison, J.P. Morgan, Porsche, Ferrari, etc. the list is long and deep. Yet, these are all companies that are respected and admired.

Of course, there is something a person can do about them. Just stop using or buying their products. Let that be your protest. Of course, you'll be protesting without hundreds of items you use every day.

Now, how many threads are there asking or giving the Speedway free shipping code? Yea, quite a lot. That'll show 'em.

If a small U.S. company comes out with something I can use and at a good price, I'll give it a shot. But sadly, quite a few times, it's just as bad as the over seas stuff. Say what you will, but when something from Speedy wasn't what it should have been, VERY rare, they made it right. NO questions asked.

 

Guys
If it was not for China rods, cranks, heads etc we would be done for as far as affording this hobby
I have China made heads--some of the makers there sell crap--the guy I get mine form makes great heads--excellent quality- all CNC machined--great castings-now consider this

US freight company makes $$ on shipping them to me
USA dock worker has a job recieving them in
US worker Has a job porting them and finishing them
I make a dollar when I sell them
Another USA person wins a race with them and makes a $
My state gets tax dollars when we sell them
UPS makes $ when I ship them to you
Manley makes a $$ when I buy valves , retainers etc for them
Engine Machine shop makes a $ when they build an engine with them

It is way too late to cry about import parts, clothes, jeans, shoes, etc

Bill was one hell of a business man--he was a business man and his parts empire attests to his skill and forsight and work ethic--that work ethic is ALL American.
Great ride Bill !!!!!

Bye the way Bill I want to send my BELL driving gloves back--they are made in Pakistan and the leather on them stinks like a 4 day dead goat ( bet he will take them back) then I can spend triple on some USA made but at least I have a CHOICE

 

As the cost of living has gone up , because of poorly managed counties, towns , states ,and greedy politicaian's , the unions and son on , its always about MONEY!
Screw the pride of workmanship , and being able to talk to some one in this country.
It started with electronics , then Most All clothes , Shoes , the laws , taxes , unions have driven business away from U.S.A.. Keep voting in people for lifetime public servant jobs , nothing will ever change. I really hate to bring that in , but its true!
Speedway is a stand up company !
Unfortunately all of us need to make a living , and more so than ever , I am American Products always , try to find them, this shit started many years ago.
Knock them and Look in the mirror!

Frank Spadaro

 

I hardly ever post a comment because mostly, comments have become an uncivil turd-hurl.

But this is phenomenon is something I know things about: Made in China.

The assertion that everything 'Made in China' is crap is demonstrably untrue. Exhibit A: The Apple iPhone. A higher level of paranoid QA and extreme fit and finish....you won't find it. I don't own an iPhone anymore for personal philosophy reasons having nothing to do with where they're fabricated and assembled. But I still have to acknowledge them as the king of fit & finish, yet made in China.

Here's how manufacturing works: you specify what tolerances are acceptable and then you pay to get that. If you pay a fraction of the price for wide tolerances (or crummy metallurgy) and that makes a wide gap between profit and loss, most every business will opt for what gives them the widest gap...the most profit. The iPhone is fabricated and assembled in China because, even at the very low levels of pay there, there would be no other way to manufacture the device and turn a profit. Made in the USA, the iPhone would cost 2-3x what it does now. Who has $2000 for a *phone*? Even a piece of functional art? Not the millions who have bought them.

In theory, our industry ought to be different: smaller production runs, or parts that stay in production for decades instead of being retooled yearly. Yet the same economic principle apply, even on the smaller scale. The morality of it is a separate discussion. You can always find someone who can fab what you need if you're willing to pay a high enough price. When you're the retailer though, the difference is what keeps you in beef and bread. So you maximize your profit & loss spread, either through more efficient techniques, or plain old outsourcing.

 

Ryan,
You have an excellent forum here, (thank you) one suggestion I have is to have a section for US made parts that are original, or not, but made in the US. I try to only buy US made or Original old parts I can rebuild. It would be great to have a "tab" I could click on and it would list all of the US made parts and their manufacturer. Places like HRW and others you have mentioned here. Is that an option? It appears it would same me some coin too.
Just my 2 cents...

...oh, yeah and HERTERS, holy crap that is a blast from the past.....

 

As is the case with all responsible investigative journalism, TJJ has a right and even responsibility to open conversation and high-lite facts of concern and interest to us as a community. Well done.

 

how about jap and Korean cars ?

 

I know it's off topic but good luck to Burger King. It won't happen as we already have a Queen! LOL

 

Reading all these posts I wonder how many, were they to manufacture a product that sold well and provided a nice income see it copied by a dealer who had it manufactured in China and sold for half your price would say "Good job", "Delighted you put me out of business", "Glad you could sell it cheaper"?

 

I work in business development and product development for a large corporation. If you're in business (small or large) and you have want to innovate or develop something unique for the market you need to protect your intellectual property with a patent application and eventual patent. We've had to go great lengths to conceal our IP in presentations (viewers will screen print or phone picture) , leak deceptive information or data to throw competion, and have gone as far as keeping mating components at separate suppliers in separate regions of the world in an effort to keep non-patentable technology a trade secret for as long as possible.

Non-disclosure agreements are the norm when we do business with our customers and our suppliers.

I just used a HRW kit and it's a piece of art and such a nice piece, and while an old Ford conversion part for hot rodding may not seem patentable it poosibly could be with some unique language. The problem for a small business like HRW is it is expensive, and maybe not thought about when you just start out and sell 10 then 20 then 50....Then Speedway comes along and wants 250, then another 250......

It not necessarily a China deal or Low cost region deal. In the HRW scenario, XYZ could approach Speedway with HRW copy at a lower price to take the business, or if HRW did not have the IP protected and tried to enforce an NDA, or terms and conditions preventing copying the product and function Speedway could have copied from the start.

It does bring integrity and ethics into question on behalf of Speedway, and this is a good forum to call them out. I've had this exact thing happen to the company I work for and was f'ing pissed. If i was HRW and it was MY business I would be super f'ing pissed.

This should be a warning call to any small business to protect your innovations, dont trust your customers, competitors and suppliers