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About Our Business |
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| Click here for pictures of our premises in Peachland B.C. Canada, construction of our shops and more about us! (There are a number of pictures so allow time for this to download and open.)
The beginnings of Collectors Auto Supply.com go way back. After fixing everybody's lawnmower and mini-bike I started working on my grandmother's 1954 Dodge Regent in 1974. After it sat in our yard for 5 years I took it to high school in pieces and got it running again. I also fixed up a 1965 Vauxhall Viva and later a 1971 Opel GT. As these cars got older and harder to get parts for, I began to get more knowledgeable about their parts than many of the local parts sources. After attending a few swap meets hosted by the Vintage Car Club Of Canada, I had collected a small stock of tune-up parts and catalogs. I began opening accounts to help me fill in missing stock that I could find and one thing led to another. I still own and drive almost all the cars I ever owned so tracking parts sources became a real passion for me. You can see more about our cars and their stories in the "Our Cars And Stories" portion of this web site. Using an Apple IIC computer and Appleworks software, I began to organize and store the inventory. Eventually we migrated to newer computers and the inventory that began in the old Apple computer is now in an Access database of that is well over half a million part number lines. In 1988 our auto parts business was done under the name "Appian Services" as we lived on Appian Way in Coquitlam. In 1989, to reflect the nature of our business, we changed the name to "Collectors Auto Supply". Several years after that, Dick Parton of the Vintage Car Club of Canada and others worked with the Insurance Corporation Of British Columbia to create a type of insurance for older cars that encouraged their restoration and allowed owners to driver the cars more than the existing Vintage category. Their efforts were very successful and as a result the "Collector" plate was created, several years after we began doing business under the name "Collectors Auto Supply". Today with the help of my sons and several employees, we operate full time. There are several unique aspects to our business. In addition to our own inventory collected over the past 20 years, we use hundreds of other suppliers and sources to get you the parts you need. I believe that the best way to supply what people need is not to try and have it in stock but to know where to get it. This way we are able to supply all types of parts and supplies for practically any vehicle ever made. Would you believe we even have a regular supplier of NOS Mopar parts in Sweden! Yes, American made Chrysler product cars were shipped to Sweden and of course so were parts. Years later, there are now NOS Mopar parts in Sweden that cannot be found in the U.S.! We also have customers around the world and it is interesting to note that one of the first parts we needed from Sweden was for one of our regular customers in Finland who owns a Valiant. As a result, the obsolete U.S. made part was drop-shipped from Sweden to Finland. Another unique part of our operation is our presence in both Canada and the USA. Our office is located in Peachland, British Columbia, Canada. Peachland is a very small community located halfway between Kelowna and Penticton in the B.C. Okanagan. (Peachland is about 3.5 hours drive over the Coquihalla Highway to Vancouver B.C.) In just over 60 minutes we can drive to Oroville in Washington State. Oroville is a small desert-like town about half way between Seattle and Spokane. We make twice weekly trips to our Oroville location where we do all our U.S. shipping and receiving. As a result we do twice weekly cross border shipments at nominal cost as we do our own brokerage, eliminating costs and delays when importing or exporting from Canada and the U.S.A. Our goal is to help you keep your vehicle running forever and assist you with your project to the best of our ability. We'd like to supply the parts for free but we have to pay our bills and must set prices based on the cost of doing business and the supplies. We want to make sure we are still here when you need parts again. As time goes on we find it harder to make time to look up part numbers and research special requests. As a result, we encourage you to supply parts numbers when possible and to call back if you need something and are waiting to hear back from a previous call. - Jim Carpenter
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