Lee Auto Supply: Part museum, part gearhead social club
Veteran journalist Murilee Martin is known for his junkyard archeology, which now appears on this site each Tuesday. Let’s do some archeology of our own and go back to 2009, when he checked out one of the last auto parts stores that wasn’t a chain: Lee Auto Supply, which closed in 2018 and is now a high-end furniture store. —Ed.
The Toyota and Chevrolet dealerships across the street in Alameda, California, shut their doors for good last year. A corporate auto-parts chain just opened up a store two blocks away. The parts suppliers are folding their tents and padlocking the warehouses. The latest generation of hot-rod kids buys its speed parts online. Repeated crowbar shots continue to thud into the kidneys of the California economy. How can it be possible that this old-time downtown parts store—this anachronism—has survived this far into the 21st century?
Step off the sidewalk of Alameda’s main drag onto the creaky wooden floor of World Famous Lee Auto Supply. Past the 1956-vintage Hurst shifter display and the photo of Kenny Stabler posing with a ’40 Ford dirt-track car at Vallejo Speedway. Continue on beyond the 1975 NHRA Champions Of Drag Racing poster from Fremont Raceway and the East Bay car-club plaques going back to the 1920s, and lean up against the beat-to-hell, decal-encrusted parts counter. There you will find… parts men. Battle-scarred automotive veterans, honest-to-god Doctors Of Partsology who can tell the difference between an FMX and a Fordomatic, who know the number of the outfit in L.A. that can overnight-ship floats for the ailing SU carbs in your Volvo 144. Must be a half-ton of well-thumbed parts books behind the counter, and you’ll never get a puzzled look when you say you think the IHC Scout you just bought has a mid-70s AMC 360, but the distributor seems to be older and you need points for it.
For all the nostalgic hand-wringing over “the death of Main Street” we hear as mega-chains crush little downtown shops and department stores—or, rather, as we vote with our dollars for cheapness and convenience—it remains possible for us to purchase most of what we need in the big chains; the soul may be dying, but the body lives. Not so with the independent auto-parts store. When the last one dies, we’ll lose the expertise of the guys behind the counter, and we’ll be left with corporate employees authorized only to check year, make, and model on a terminal. We’ll still be able to buy car parts, but the whole process will be much more difficult.
When I was 15, the gas station near my house had a customer abandon a ’69 Toyota Corona after dropping it off for a minor repair. Just $50 later, I had my very first car. My very first visit to Lee Auto took place soon after. That was nearly 30 years ago, and the place hasn’t changed in any substantial way in all that time; looking at photographs of the store in the early 60s, it’s clear that time has simply slowed down here. Duane Watson, whose father bought the store in 1959 (it was a chain of three stores then, one in Alameda and two in next-door Oakland), is still in charge. You’ll usually find two or three grizzled old-time Alameda gearheads, knuckles permanently tattooed from a lifetime of underhood grime, holding court from the stools lined by the parts counter. You’ll see some young guys there, too, all tatts and attitude, talking cylinder heads and pearlescent paint jobs; the hot-rodding tradition in Alameda goes back unbroken for generations.
The little brick building, located between a Wienerschnitzel and an antiques store is a block or so from City Hall. It’s been a car-parts store since it was built in 1922, and the back room still has hooks labeled for Kaiser-Frazer and Packard parts. A retired Model A circle-track racer body sits on the roof in back, over the machine shop that had to be closed down when the last of the old engine machinists retired. There’s no parking lot; you’ll parallel-park your Civic out front the way previous generations parked their Chieftans and Wagonaires.
Times are hard, Duane admits, harder than they’ve ever been—the loss of parts business from now-shuttered Good Chevrolet across the street has hit especially hard—but Lee Auto remains afloat. He’s been forced to lay off some full-time employees and work more hours himself, and there’s no more Lee Auto–sponsored racing these days, but the OPEN sign goes up every morning at 9:00 AM.
Auto Parts Stores and the Dodo
As recently as the late 1970s and 1980s, the independent auto parts store reigned supreme. Every town had at least one of these slightly dingy stores, where a crusty old guy with a dangling cigarette or a young motor head stood behind a long rack of parts books. A team of young drivers delivered parts to dealerships and garages, sometimes bringing back engines, cranks, or brake drums for machine work to be completed in the nethermost parts of the store.
Sure there might have been a chain automotive supplier at the local shopping center, but they were for off-the-rack parts like oil, filters, and anti-freeze. If you needed points or plugs, a thermostat, pistons or a master cylinder, you went to places like Lee Auto Supply or Thul Auto Supply or Scott Reider Auto Parts, where the guys behind the counter really knew what they were doing and could recognize an exhaust system for a Malibu from either its shape or its part number. These days, the old-time parts store sure looks like it’s going the way of the dodo, but when they’re gone, there will be nobody left to help you find a part for a car that’s 25 years old and isn’t listed on the computer.
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Brings back memories of my high school and early college years working at my uncle’s auto repair shop. There was an independent parts shop just a block away and my uncle was always sending me there. I’d hop on my bike and bring back whatever I could carry and still steer my old Huffy bike. Behind the car were a couple of grizzled old guys, ashtrays overflowing with ashes and cigarette butts and I always got some good natured teasing from those guys.
Great memories.
I was peddling parts at an indy shop when we started migrating from racks full of parts catalogs to yellow-on-black computer terminals with zero graphic capabilities. (Tri-something was the name of the system that I no longer remember). It was a tough adjustment not being able to make notes in the catalogs!
There are a few indy shops around, but certainly not very many. I can think of just a few in the Louisville area, plus some machine shops. I sure do miss those creaky old floors. 🙁
Traverse City has the local Thirlby auto parts stores, a family-owned chain, that still has guys behind the counter surrounded by thick stacks of parts books.
Growing up in Huntsville Alabama we had our share of local mom & pop stores as well. Interestingly I went to high school with three kids who’s dads owned stores. There was Lott Auto Parts, their motto was “ a lot of parts, a lot of service”. Then the Kauffman’s owned Auto Electric, started by Opa, their German immigrant grandfather. And then there was Paul’s Auto Parts, owned by Paul, a WWII marine veteran with Iwo Jima and several other campaigns he fought in. A humorous tidbit about Paul was the sign behind his parts counter informing you of his credit manager, Helen Wait. “If you want credit, you can go to hell and wait”!
Thanks for triggering fond memories of days gone by.
I recall four decades ago I suggested to a buddy to “stock up” on some tune-up parts for his 1957 Chevy truck. He was notoriously “frugal” and laughed, replying that parts would always be available at the auto parts store. Well now about the only thing he can “order” at the chain auto parts stores is a fan belt. His favorite old time one owner parts store closed 30 years back. Two of the local auto machine shops have closed. It if wasn’t for the specialty online suppliers most 60’s and 70’s cars would have gone to the crusher due to no parts availability. One downside is the OEM folks don’t make parts for these old cars since new cars use different parts. The means “offshore” suppliers and sometimes iffy quality. If you think you might need a part for repair or restoration – buy it NOW! One online supplier I deal with sometimes replies “sorry that part is out of stock and the supplier is no longer making them”.
The current local auto parts store can get you just about anything but you have to pay through the nose for it. A plastic 1/8 vacuum Tee fitting is $4.75. They don’t carry anything for 25 year old cars. There was a old time parts store owned by a car club member but when his employee got sick he closed the store about 15 years ago. Since then I would go see the owner and get small parts. Alas, the owner’s dementia has caught up with him (he’s going on 95) and his kid (and grandkids) are ready to throw everything in a dumpster. Can’t ask to buy anything because if you want it, it’s worth its weight in gold.
when i saw this article’s title, that alone brought back memories. thanx for posting!
i delivered parts (parts runner) while in high school for d & j auto parts in the late 70s, and valley view auto parts in 1980, both in whittier, ca. geez, the stories i could tell. i thought i had the coolest job – and getting paid to boot! at times it was tough getting me out of the machine shop. i wanted to turn rotors & drums, grind valves – anything they’d show and let me (sometimes, i think it ‘annoyed’ one of the co-owners of the 1st store mentioned!). working there was the beginning of my automotive career – 15 years as a dealer mechanic, then 25 years for the same manufacturer at the corporate level.
during the time i delivered for these stores, i saw a chief auto parts store open. they were lemony-fresh clean enough for a lady to go in and buy a tree air freshner and not feel dirty! that chain was later bought out by i think either auto zone or advance auto. that store’s opening was imo the beginning of the end of the independents. the automotive business as a whole has changed so much, both for good and not exactly good. so it doesn’t surprise me how the parts end of the business has changed, too. still, i find it to be a sad evolution, going more and more from human interaction to self-serve kiosk.
In Fremont, Ohio we are blessed to have two local stores, C&W and Wilhelms. Both compete pretty good with the chain stores and a lot of times have items that the chains don’t carry.
The last local independent auto parts store in my area is Dick’s Auto Parts in Azusa, CA. They have saved me several times ordering parts for my ’69 Charger. However, the pandemic has dried up the parts supply for older vehicles. Dick’s can no longer get wiper blade refills which I used to buy there as I still have the original wiper blades. They were able to get a carburetor kit, choke unit, as well as a choke pull off diaphragm. Dick’s also has a machine shop and they were able to swage on new wheel studs when I recently replaced the front brake drums. The only issue was they couldn’t find left hand thread studs for the left front hub. Scot the owner of Dick’s is very knowledgeable and they still have the old catalogs which usually requires looking up the old part number and then seeing if there is a new part number and if the part is still available. I hope that Dick’s will hang in there. They seem to be doing well.
Here in the Phoenix area we still have an old time shop called Hopper’s Auto Parts (it’s actually in Mesa). I like to buy stuff there when I can.
There is a place like this in Utica, MI – King Speed & Kolor Automotive. Check-it out if your in neighborhood.
Bought many parts from Lee Auto Supply in the 70’s and 80’s when I lived in Alameda. I was in my early 20’s then and just learning about “Hot Rodding” from my mentor Dave Lenschimdt who could do just about anything and was a regular at Lee’s. My first big purchase from Lee’s was a set of Hooker header side pipes for my 68 Vette. Seeing the license plate frames brings back memories too, Dave gave me my “Chevy Unlimited Alameda” frame that I still have. After going to Lee’s with Dave, we would go over to Der Weinersnitchel for his favorite hot dog a chili cheese with a pickle. Good times.
One last holdout is Border part’s in east San Diego County. Jon Compton has forgotten more than most people will ever know in 10 lifetimes. He has been a Jeep enthusiast for decades and has a vast collection of parts and supplies for older Jeeps and other vehicles. His specialty is in drivelines. The store is packed to the rafters with merchandise and has all of the sights and smells of the old school parts house. Jon has slowed down in the past few years, but still has a steel trap memory of Jeep parts. He’s been a great wealth of help and information in the restoration of my 1970 Jeep CJ5. Check him out and re live some old memories.