Classic Parts for Classic American Cars

help to get a little nostalgic, I was having
major flash backs of my youth, as I passed
these classic’s with my grandpa’s, mothers,
and high school friend’s cars in mind. As
these relics of the past sat in what some
may call a junk yard, collectors would refer
to it as a museum of parts, pieces, the
mother load, or treasure chest.
Well here we are just like old times, it
seems like yesterday that I first visited RPM
Motorsports in Albert Lea. I personally
want to congratulate Mike Ryan and his
team for committing to being one of
Wheels of Thunder sponsors and advertisers. It clearly demonstrates that having a
well rounded marketing plan can payoff
big time. RPM Motorsports is currently
busting at the seams, which basically
equates to looking for additional space
due to the success of the business. RPM
currently has expanded to two sites and
now employs 13 technicians. For the
readers that are not familiar with RPM
Motorsports here’s a big time overview.
Think back to a time when Friday night
meant cruising Main Street, racing for
pink slips, and showing off your wheels
at the parking lot. The memories are timeless as are the cars we have grown to love.
Your car makes a statement. It may evoke
a memory of another time, another place,
or ownership may be the fulfillment of a
dream. If you are looking to drive that
dream again locating hard to find, unique,
or limited edition parts for what we now
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consider an American Classic automobile,
then search no more. RPM Motorsports
Inc, in Albert Lea, Minnesota is like walking through a time warp.
I first met owner and operator, Mike Ryan
last year. As we toured the yard I couldn’t
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Mike’s family has been in the business
since 1957, as Mike explained it being in
the parts business is like an assembly line
if reverse order. Nothing goes to waste each
vehicle is dissembled, and I mean every
nut, bolt, latch, door, frame, mechanicals,
windshield, hood ornament, and more.
The disassembly process is very labor intensive; the service technicians resemble
transplant surgeons delicately removing
each engine, transmission, part or hardware. Each part is logged and entered in
the RPM inventory system so even the
most unique part has a home waiting for
that customer that has spent years looking
for the right part to complete that special
classic cruiser. Today the pecking order for
classic years are 1972 and before.
June 2012
Classic Parts for Classic American Cars
Written by Billy Boyle
that classic automobile sitting in a barn or
a corn field just waiting to get that breath
of life to take the road once again.
The customer base extends way beyond
the Midwest and the United States, RPM’s
customers are from Australia, New
Zealand, Thailand, Russia, Malta, Brazil,
Germany, England to name a few. In fact
the Biggest American show in the world
was held in Västerås, Sweden in July 2011.
More cars, more people, more swap meet
vendors than you can believe. There were
over 10.000 cars. Street Rods, Customs,
50's cruisers, 60's muscle cars, Corvettes,
Mustangs, and Camaros – you name it
and it was there at Power Big Meet. The
event had classic American car enthusiast
and visitors from 26 countries, many of
these classic owners found themselves
dealing directly with RPM Motorsports in
little Albert Lea, Minnesota. This year will
mark the 35th annual Power Big Meet,
one of the biggest car show and swap
meets in the world. The event is scheduled for July 7-8-9, 2012. Already the
phone is ringing off the hook for RPM
Motorsports from shops, collectors, and
enthusiast for the parts that can’t be found
anywhere else in the world. Many people
don’t realize that prior to the big depres-
June 2012
sion the American Auto industry had 140
auto manufactures listed. Even Singer
Sewing Machine Company produced an
automobile. RPM has an extensive catalog
of parts inventory; some of these parts are
from auto manufacturers that have never
been heard of. Yet someone somewhere has
I asked Mike where does he find these
treasures of years past, Mike said that many
are found in farms, barns, backyards, or
garages, where a family either hangs on to
it or has no idea how to dispose of it. Mike
said he once used to solicit in small towns,
restaurants, bars, or social gathering places
with a $50.00 cash finder’s fee for anyone
that had or knew of an older make vehicle
that was just sitting waiting to rust out.
Mike sees it that every vehicle can be used
in some shape or form, you never know
what that customer needs; our philosophy
is to save everything. The oldest relic that
once was on the RPM lot was an 1898
Maxwell, which we quickly found a customer that was aching to restore it to its
original state.
Currently RPM ships about 75 parts per
day all over the world. Some of the items
that you take for granted, license plates,
hood ornaments, and original inner tubes.
The inner tubes even if worn, tattered, or
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torn can be repaired, the reason that many
of the classic car events require the originals, points are deducted for using anything other than the original parts. The
hood ornaments are a collector’s item in itself, some can bring several thousand dollars if in mint condition. License plates
have the same emotional attachment or
they are used for movie and television sets
to bring that authenticity to visual side of
the story. One of our customers in Germany exclusively uses RPM to restore cars,
used in the Matt Damon’s, Jason Borne spy
thriller movies. RPM also has limited parts
for vintage motorcycles and snowmobiles.
Other star studded celebrities that utilize
RPM for the very hard to find parts are the
infamous crew from Pawn Stars, The Old
Man, Rick “the spotter” Harrison, Austin
“Chumlee” Russell, and Corey “Big Hoss”
Harrison, now these are the guys that seek
out and pay for relics. Yes folks even the
Pawn Stars frequent RPM Motorsports in
little Old Albert Lea. Other notables that
use RPM are Custom Builder Bo Huff, and
the Legendary Custom Builder Gene Winfield to drop a few names.
The bottom-line is RPM touches a lot of
areas, industries, and classic car enthusiasts, because we have or can find most
parts that are needed, no matter what corner of the earth you call home. If you are
tired of searching the internet for hard to
find parts, search no more, give RPM Motorsports Inc in Albert Lea, Minnesota a try.
I can guarantee you will feel like you hit
the lottery when your request is answered
with a “yes we have that”.
RPM Motorsports is located at 1316 Eberhardt, Albert Lea, Minnesota, 56007. The
website address is www.rpmmotorsportsinc.com or call directly at a toll free
number 888-223-1864.
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June 2012