A few years ago, a buddy of mine asked me to come over and help him restore a 1967 Mustang Fastback that his father willed to him. I’d never really worked on cars before, but after spending months on that Mustang, I was hooked. My friend taught me a lot about the process of restoring vintage automobiles, and now this is what I spend most of my free time doing. In fact, I’ve already sold two of my completed projects for a nice profit, which has got me thinking that perhaps I can turn this hobby into a full-blown business.

In order to make a business like this work, however, I’d have to find some good sources of classic car parts. Specifically, I’m looking for shops or dealerships that stock a large enough inventory of products that I can be relatively certain that I’ll be able to find what I need no matter what kind of vehicle I’m working on.

In addition to carrying a wide selection of classic car parts for all makes and models, I’d want these retailers to be able to offer competitive pricing. Having to buy things like brake discs, clutch kits, water pumps, oil filters, headers, and quarter panels is by far the greatest expense involved in automobile restoration. Since I’d be buying these things on a pretty regular basis and would be a loyal customer, I’d need my classic car parts dealer to have the lowest prices around.

Read the rest of this entry »