When you think about the explosion in the popularity of import car culture, the names AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP), and O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) are just about the last things to pop into your mind. After all, when you're looking to upgrade to a performance exhaust or improve your handling and lower your ride with a set of coilovers, these are not the places to go to. For that, you would most likely visit your local specialty performance shop, find a retail shop online that specializes in performance parts, or check out eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Motors.
But even though you specifically may not buy performance parts from the generic auto parts retailers, that doesn't mean that they aren't benefiting from the growing number of Americans that are "pimping" their rides.
Here's a case in point.
On Saturday, we began work on my Mazda RX-8 at Lightspeed Motorsports in St. Louis, for what we expect to be a regular spread in RX Tuner (the magazine for several generations of rotary engine enthusiasts) over the next several months. Ryan Scott, the content manager for the magazine, was on hand with the parts and the camera. Our task is to do a parts installation feature for RX-8 owners while testing out performance upgrades from various manufacturers.
Up until Saturday, everything I've replaced in the car -- the exhaust, air filter, ground wires, coilovers, flywheel, and sway bars -- has come with everything needed to do the installation. And of course, as is the point of this story, that changed.
The first item on the schedule for Saturday was the installation of my new performance radiator. But as it is with radiators, you can't just swap out the old one, stick in the new one, and go; you need to replace the fluids you just dumped. For this task, we went up the street to AutoZone to pick up some coolant, and stopped by Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) on the way back to grab some distilled water. (I actually could have bought the coolant at Walgreens as well, but I didn't know that at the time.)
Next up was a set of lightened underdrive pulleys from Unorthodox Racing, which the company graciously donated to us for the project. The pulleys replace the stock pulleys driving the alternator, water pump, and air conditioner, and free up horsepower by relieving stress on the engine -- mostly because of their lighter weight. Unfortunately, they also require two replacement belts, which weren't supplied.
Unorthodox Racing recommends a pair of belts manufactured by Gates, though any same-sized belts would be acceptable. To complicate things, AutoZone doesn't carry Gates belts, and the shop we went to didn't have the right-sized belt from a competing brand in stock, either. O'Reilly Automotive, just around a couple of street corners, does carry Gates; however, they had only the belt for the alternator and water pump in stock, and not the belt for the air conditioner. A visit to Advance Auto Parts just up the street, and another AutoZone a few steps away came up empty.
In the end, I put in an order with O'Reilly for the other belt, which will be in the store Tuesday morning, at which point we will install the pulleys, as well as a new flywheel (also donated by Unorthodox Racing).
Several weeks ago, I wrote a two-part series highlighting eBay, a group of video game publishers led by Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), and Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE:GT) as companies that are capitalizing on the growth in the popularity of import car culture. While not the most direct play, I think we can add car parts retailers to the list of businesses to examine more closely.
For related coverage, check out:
- Investing in Car Culture (Part I)
- Where the Rubber Meets the (Virtual) Road (Part II)
- Help Gas Mileage for Under $100
- Pricey Gas Stalls AutoZone
Fool contributor Jeff Hwang owns shares of both eBay and Electronic Arts. Look for his ride in RX Tuner, or check out his online garagehere.
