Build a beauty from scratch at this California parts stockpile

Classic Industries began more than 40 years ago, supplying restoration parts for Camaros. Now it operates three warehouses in southern California, in addition to a tech center that focuses on product development, vehicle disassembly, and test fittings, as well as manufacturing facilities worldwide.

While Classic Industries began with Camaros, it now offers parts for Mopar A-, B-, and E-bodies, Chevrolet trucks and full-size cars, Mustangs, and soon a large line of Corvette parts. The company often builds its own tooling to manufacture reproduction parts, but in some cases gets the tooling directly from the manufacturer. For example, years ago, Classic Industries acquired Camaro fender tooling from GM for stamping 1967 and ’68 Camaro and Firebird fenders.

We toured the main Southern California warehouse to see what kind of parts are available for classic car and truck restoration and learned a bit about the restoration parts business. Seeing just how many parts are available and how much sheet metal is being reproduced gave us a new understanding for what’s possible in a restoration.