That’s right Gus, I couldn’t find it with our search engine but several years ago
my curiosity got the best of me and I went in search of the source of the
“Counterparts” items. It took me to a guy very close to The Truck & Car Shop. If
I remember correctly at the time of my search, my lead came from the fact that
the addresses were very close to each other. Now they are about a mile apart.
I finally tracked down a number for Counterparts and the man that answered the
phone asked where I got the number and was very guarded with his answers. I did
manage to dig enough out of him to find out that his son owned The Truck & Car
Shop and he owned Counterparts. That accounted for the better prices on some of
their items.
And Bill is correct; Counterparts is not a manufacturer but an importer. He
wouldn’t talk about where the parts come from but judging from the large number
of items that Counterparts supplies to the vendors I’d bet the Middle East, and Far
East are the sources. I’ve found lots of Counterparts that were tagged India,
China, Taiwan and I’m sure there are a lot more off shore countries supplying his
parts. Not that I’m nuts about buying reproduction parts made off shore but lets
face it, if it weren’t for those imported reproduction parts that keep our old trucks
running the shelves would be pretty empty. With our business owners bank
accounts and labor prices in this country where they are now, there is no way in
the world that any US manufacturer is gonna compete with the foreign
competition.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
