TMCP #471: ASK RICK – Are All Restoration Parts REALLY Made in Three Factories in Taiwan?

The MuscleCar Place

Robert Kibbe

Automotive, Leisure, Business, Careers

4.8 • 701 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2021

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Happy 4th of July and welcome to another great edition of "Ask Rick". Rick Schmidt is never one to shy away from the hard hitting questions and this month was no exception. After last months bombshell about pricing and how COVID-19 is affecting the costs of everything, there were a lot of listener questions about the parts themselves......and where they really come from. He may need to have all listeners sign a non disclosure agreement after this interview, but he definitely let the cards fall where they may.

Here was the big discussion (and myth debunk): Aren't all aftermarket parts made in just three plants in Taiwan, and they're really all the same no matter the brand? Rick laid out the reality of this eight ways from Sunday. The answer is complicated to say least. Are there really 3 factories in Taiwan stamping out all of our favorite parts? No, of course not. The amount of tooling required to do all of that would take up the state of Rhode Island. Do the many multiple factories - who are competing with each other - actually have to competitively work together? Actually, they do. Shipping of parts is a key reason however.

The post TMCP #471: ASK RICK – Are All Restoration Parts REALLY Made in Three Factories in Taiwan? first appeared on The Muscle Car Place.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Muscle Car Place online podcast episode number 471.
0:05.0	This week, Rick Schmidt is back for the Ask Rick segment on our Independence Day show.
0:10.0	And this time, it's all about the real, true reality of the restoration parts industry,
0:16.0	how COVID is impacting things from material costs to shipping containers overseas.
0:20.0	And yes, we all know that many, many, many parts come from Taiwan.
0:24.6	That's what we're going to tackle head on today.
0:26.6	Why is it that so many of the goods we need come from Taiwan and aren't made here in the States?
0:32.6	And you know the line that all the restoration parts come out of three factories in Taiwan, no matter whose name is on the box. Is that true? Well, Rick knows.
0:40.3	No single factory over in that small little country can hope to have all of that tooling for all of those gears, makes, and models.
0:48.3	That would be a factory the size of the state of Rhode Island.
0:56.0	This is the Muscle Car Place, weekly online podcast.
1:00.0	Brought to you by National Parks Depot.
1:03.0	This is the weekly show dedicated to people worldwide who love American muscle cars.
1:09.0	Whether you're buying them, selling, restoring, or even racing them, this is the place for you.
1:15.6	Now, here's your host, Rob Kibby.
1:19.6	Yes, indeed, I am Rob Kibby, and welcome to the Muscle Car Place podcast.
1:23.9	Okay, fun show.
1:24.9	I'm going to admit, this may be the most revealing episode of Ask Rick we have ever done, and I loved it. He pulled no punches. He has dealt with the whole topic of, you know, everything's made in Taiwan. We should make it here in the good old USA. I'm going to admit, I probably have never vocally said that, but I've always kind of wondered, why are we doing it that way? Today's show
1:49.1	gave me the perspective I needed at least. When it comes to the big stuff, and I mean,
1:53.4	sheet metal, quarters, floors, fenders, dorskins, stuff like that. Right now, we seem to have
1:58.6	everything we could want for parts, or it all seems to be very closely
2:02.2	within reach 20 years ago is nothing like that now you got a 69 charger you could build a 69
	...

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