After 40 years in the Aftermarket and 30 years with Rare Spares I am enjoying retirement and the change of pace. With Grandchildren taking preference and travel arrangements I have decided to close down my Fastlane account as I no longer monitor it daily.
There are a lot of members that contribute to Fastlane and offer their extensive knowledge assisting those that seek it. It is always a pleasure when a subject is resolved to help in that restoration project.

The Auto parts industry is continually changing in all sectors, whether it is through company acquisitions, such as Bursons, or closures such as GMH Holden and Ford Assembly lines. The days of the small owner operated spare parts outlets are just about finished with just a few remaining as the bigger corporations buy up everything they can.

The new car market is very diversified with all vehicles now imported and such a large selection available to choose from. Unfortunately this now leaves less and less of those interested in our iconic cars that were built here. The benefit on the other hand is to increase the value of many restorations and keep reminding us of the days gone by. It will be interesting to see our vehicle sector in years to come.

My one parting comment is why GMH called their next car a Commodore when I consider they should have dropped the name like Ford did with the Falcon. Nothing wrong with car but the name.

Thank you for your assistance over the years director, it has been great. Your comments on how the industry has changed are spot on.

I've been in the auto industry since 1970 full-time & a few years part-time before that & over that time the changes have been extraordinary, but none more so than during the last 10 years.

I'm one of those "rare breed" of independents you speak of & it's a tough gig. I owned & operated a well equipped workshop for nearly 40 years until I just had enough, so I closed the workshop to just sell parts. That was a case of "out of the frying pan & into the fire".

The biggest changes are not just the equipment & expertise required & the fact that our local cars are no longer made, but that there is such a huge choice in car brands & models nowadays.

If you go back to the 60s or 70s, total car sales in Aust, were less than half what they are today, the top seller sold well over 100,000 cars, yet the top selling car on the market today is lucky to garner 40,000 to 45,000 in total sales. The model proliferation is horrendous.

For example, back then there were probably 6 to 8 different ignition coils, 6v, 12v, with resistor or without & a few variations on that. I currently stock over 500 different ignition coils, with very few of them being interchangeable !! Fun times.

Dr Terry

Edited by user Monday, 24 September 2018 1:58:03 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Spelling

May you have a relaxing and enjoyable retirement Tour Director.

I arrived fairly late in the car industry, in 1994. I too have seen massive changes, but none like those coming in the next 10-15 years. The shift to (presumably) BEVs and autonomous cars will make the changes in the last 30 years seem like nothing.

I have just had a very Holden weekend, and it has made me think about what happened to General Motors-Holden's and where Holden is going.

I went to Adelaide for a wedding, but managed to spend a day researching archived Holden material, some on exports and some on the WB. I simply ran out of time to look at anything else, but what I saw was just incredible.

I then rented a car, was supposed to get a Camry but fitting into the theme of the weekend, was given a VFII SV6. I also had time to look at the (outside) of the Elizabeth plant for the first time. That was pretty sad; I thought about how the car I was driving was built right there, and my own car at home in Sydney was also put together just over the fence from where I was standing. We (Australia) had the ability to do that, and not just in the Adelaide suburb I visited.

Then I had the opportunity to look at a very special car: a 7/71 HQ Premier, bought new by my grandfather in April 1972. I first drove the car in 1973, and it stayed in our family until 2006. The present owner bought it for parts and luckily thought it to good to pull apart and restored it. I can't explain to you what it was like to drive that car again.

Aside from all the memories with that car, what really struck me was the HQ is not far off 50 years old. 50! No wonder parts are getting hard to find.

And yes, I'm with you on Commodore. GM has had a tin ear when it comes to understanding this market ever since Hanenberger left.

Edited by user Monday, 24 September 2018 1:22:41 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

This is the problem. The decisions weren't being made here by Holden & Ford, They were being made in Detroit, with no thought of the effect on our industry.

Dr Terry

Edited by user Monday, 24 September 2018 2:19:20 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified