JC Whitney is 100 years old!

[denis4x4]

Who here can honestly say they never bought something from this iconic Chicago parts house? They had page after page of stuff for A's in the fifties.

[Charles Coe]

In the 60s I bought more from Warshawsky which was the same company.

[rogerkb1936]

back in the 70's, i bought a top for a '60 vette, a grille for a 47 ford truck, dual exh for 73 blazer, adj lifters for 59AB, not all at the same time. everything was absolute rubbish. slow learner, i guess

[2manycars]

In the 50's I bought pin stripe decals for my bicycle. I taped the coins to a cereal box cardboard, and filled out the order form, putting Schwin in the box for Make of car. I got the decals, and they sent me a catalog for 10 years. I also bought stuff for my 40 Ford in the 60's.

[armchair67]

They have not been in Chicago for some years. I used to make my way down to their store regularly-that had a huge Volkswagen section, and I think that the rusty thirty year old parts I was removing, probably had more life left in them than a lot of the brand new stuff that JC Whitney/Warshawsky was peddling. Nothing like installing a muffler that weighed half as much as the original, and bending and prying to make it fit, only to have it rust to powder after a single winter. Or bumpers that rusted after a few rains. Rubber window seals that cracked and split all the way around after one season. I do not know where they were buying there parts from, but man did they lack quality. I am confident in saying that the Zastava plant churning out Yugos in the 1980's, would have rejected most of the stuff in that warehouse. Somehow, I do miss it-it was certainly nostalgic, and they at least stocked a boatload of parts, even if the quality was suspect at best. They did offer some brand name items, but you had to really go down there and check things out. I feel bad for anyone who had to mail order stuff only to have to deal with returning something that was less than decent from a thousand miles away.

At the time, the neighborhood-at least in the early 90s when I was going, and in the late 80s when my dad would take me there as a kid, was rough-the parking lot was across the street, and more than a few people fell victim to people trying to get used parts off of customer cars at five finger discounts. The site where JC was is now condos. But it certainly had a charm to it, a dying breed even twenty five years ago.

They are now located in LaSalle, IL, which is definitely not Chicago. They have been bought out by some other giant company located in NotAmerica, and continue to sell low quality parts but less and less is in stock for your '49 Hudson or even a Model A or Karmann Ghia.

[wrndln]

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Mentioning Warshawsky does bring back memories of my younger days in mid 60's. My brother and I would save our money up and purchase some parts for our 29 tudor we were fixing up. Like mentioned above, the quality of their parts left much to be desired, but there was a lot of companies back then that sold many of the parts we needed. Then there was Rick's in KC. His parts were pretty much on a par with Warshawsky's - mostly poor. We complain about some poor quality parts today and there are many, but when you compare today's parts to those from Warshawsky's and Rick's, there is really no comparison.

PS. I didn't know JC Whitney was still in business. I assume Warshawsky is long gone as it was just the other end of the same building, at least that is what I heard many years ago.
Rusty Nelson

[Fordors]

Warshawsky was retail and JC Whitney was the mail order arm of the firm. Catalog pricing was more favorable from Whitney and those in the know used that catalog in the store. It was always honored.
They had a fenced in yard on the west side of the building and I recall stacks of Model A front and rear ends visible from Archer Ave. as late as the early '70s. Never saw any sheet metal or frames though.

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by Charles Coe

In the 60s I bought more from Warshawsky which was the same company.

Yep, I used to get these catalogs in the Chicago area.

[ronn]

When I was 12, my Dad ordered a 1938 chevy grill through JC. Only half showed up on the door step.
Dad called and they sent out a complete grill. Wonder what we ever did with the other half........................?
Quality wasn't great, but you couldnt beat the prices!

[Tom Wesenberg]

In the late 70's I ordered an overhaul piston/cylinder set for my Renault Dauphine. I was expecting low quality junk, but it was genuine factory parts. One oil ring had a crack half way across the ring, so I sent that piston with rings back, and they sent me a complete new overhaul kit. This is a wet sleeve engine, 845 CC's.

[Purdy Swoft]

Most of the repro parts that I got up untill 71 came from Warshawsky or J.C. Whitney . They also had a fairly complete line of used running gear parts. The prices were very low and shipping was slow. Some of the parts were not the best but most that I got was about as good as any of the repro stuff available at the time. A lot of the Industria Argentina parts were well made . The chrome on some of the chrome plated parts didn't hold up very long. Truth be known, The tapered style mufflers were the exact same as the fifty five dollar Midas mufflers that a few venders still handle. I've had a couple of those mufflers last nearly forty years and they would have no doubt lasted a few years more if my daughter hadn't backed over a stump that caught the tail pipe . I never tried their fiberglass packed model A muffler that wasn't tapered style . They still had several pages of model A parts up untill 80 - 81 maybe even later. Near the end the model A parts were mostly pretty good. I've used their seat covers. Their best seat covers , though not show winng correct was very good for a common man driver car . I bought a convertable top for a Suzuki Samurai that my wife had in the 90s and it fit perfectly and the quality was very good .

At one time Warshawsky and J.C. Whitney had just about everything automotive. I had very little problems with their parts. They usually get a bad rap. Its a shame that they don't have all of the stuff that they once had .

[mot]

purdy is right ,,the shipping was slow
in the 60s i ordered some Model A parts
it took so long (months) we shipped out to europe
i finally received them by helicopter in Barcelona Spain
i opened them up and threw them over the side,junk!
i guess there still on the bottom of the harbor in Barcelona

[harryc]

I Purchased a canvas spare tire cover for my roadster in 1970. It's still on the car and looks fine. I purchased step plates and and many parts during the late 60's to mid 70's and everything I bought was on a par with the other parts houses at the time. It wasn't all bad.

[Tom Wesenberg]

In the late 70's or early 80's I bought some carpet for my 55 Pontiac from them, and it looked identical to the factory carpet. The jute padding was also nice and a perfect fit.

Do they still have a catalog?

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Do they still have a catalog?

You have to call to get the general catalog,
http://www.jcwhitney.com/jcwhitney/freecatalog.jcw

[Bruce of MN]

I went to the store in the early '70's several times and quickly saw that their quality was "variable." Hard to believe that it has become a desirable neighborhood. Police HQ is/was nearby, though. I remember that there were one or two competitors in the same area with Warshawsky in their names, claiming to be the Original one. Reminds me of businesses having a name with 7 A's in it so they could be the first in the phone book.

[Ted Duke]

I used JC Whitney for some parts for a 65 VW, including a new top. It was an inch or two too short, but my wife and I got it on by sewing a little bit to the rear. The trim covered the seam. My wife made the inner-liner as they were over-priced. It ended up looking good. After the VW was totaled, my son has fully recovered from that day, a guy I knew paid for the towing because he wanted the top irons and top.

Bought a few parts for the A in the 70's, but quality was poor.

[Keith True]

I bought a lot of parts from JC Whitney in the early 70's.Mostly VW stuff,and the engine stuff was all name brand.I bought all the parts to do the engine in my Volvo PV 544,with the B-18 engine,I was expecting off-brand but it was all OEM.I still have two complete steering columns for Model A's,with the steering boxes wrapped in stained burlap.They both have Whitney shipping tags wired onto them.They even still have the steering wheels on them.It looks like they wrapped the box end,wired a tag onto them,and mailed them.I really liked most of the VW stuff,I thought the seat cover kits were the slickest things I could get.Fenders were $18.each,I know they were thinner,but I still have them on the car.For the most part when people were buying repair parts from Whitney the cars were near the ends of their lives,and OEM was wasted.Buyers were kids like me that just needed to make it look good for a while.Their reman Model A engines were kind of a joke.We have one here that has two different bore sizes,and no two pistons protrude above the deck the same amount.It has never been run since bought.

[amodel25]

I sent in for a catalog when I was about 13 and got 3-4 a year for the next 30 years.

I bought a vacuum wiper motor for my Slant Windshield Town Sedan in 1981 for about half the price that anyone else was asking. It worked great for about 25 years but it has slowed down to a crawl now. Wonder if they still sell them?

[racingrufus]

Tom, i also bought carpet for a 64 rambler classic in late 90s as none of the vendors had paterns for ramblers. Carpet was top quality and fit perfect.