Illinois Rebuilder Honored for Half Century of Service By Traci Matt Associate Editor In a world where careers change as quickly as clothing styles, Ron Petrucci is a rare breed. Petrucci, owner of Prix Parts in St. Charles, Ill., recently received the Golden Recognition Award from the Automotive Parts & Service Association of Illinois (APSA). The award recognizes recipients for “50 years of conscientious and steadfast adherence to the highest principles and standards which have contributed immea- surably to the advancement and develop- ment of the automotive industry and the community.” Petrucci has been a member of the automotive industry since he began work- ing at Majestic Auto Parts in Riverside, Ill., in 1955. Today his business is the result of an army of satisfied import cus- tomers, including a strong base of antique import restoration enthusiasts. Prix Parts was founded in 1964, par- tially due to a growing need for import rebuilt generators and starters. With $500 cash, Petrucci bought all the used import generators and starters he could find and began rebuilding them. He sim- ply found a need and figured out how to fill it. For example, today the Prix Parts Web site boldly declares they have “Vanquished the Lord of Darkness, Sir Lucas.” Petrucci explains: “The “vanquished or conquered’ is a term associated with service people that solve the problems related to products made by the Joseph Lucas Company. This goes way back to right after World War IT. Sir Lucas manu- factured much of the electrical equipment in British cars. At that time their cars were offered to be usable for eight years. With that in mind, things were designed accordingly. Their problem began when customers started to really like the Austin Healey, MG, Morgan, and Triumph cars that Britain turned out. “Then when those eight year products started to need servicing and switches acted up—wind-screen motors (wind- shield wiper motors to you), heater motors, etc., did not work. That included headlights, hence the “Prince of Darkness’ term was born. Lucas problems are, in part, responsible for many mechanic jobs around the world.” Petrucci soon found that as his market grew, so did the competition. “Prix Parts had been the third inde- pendently owned source of import car parts to offer parts for imports in the Chicago area back in 1964,” he said. “The specialty of our competition — to gain market share — was a fast delivery of almost any dollar amount of an order. Two of these managed to hire staff that my store had trained, one by offering a $ company car for coming over to them. The Golden Recognition Award was given to Ron Petrucci of Prix Parts by the Automotive Parts & Service Association of Illinois for 50 years of exemplary service to the automotive industry. However, I believed that would be short lived. This was not the diamond industry and you counted each dollar of profit carefully. I could see no profit in deliver- ing a $5 item so the competition soon earned that share of sales.” This was just one of many tough les- sons Petrucci learned in the hands-on school of business. He often found him- self as an employee “training camp” for other parts stores that wanted to branch into the import market. In addition, in order to maintain market share he formed a “union” with a longtime customer to offer auto repair, remanufacturing and new parts sales. A difference in manage- ment ideas eventually led to the demise of the auto repair venture, but many things worked out well for Prix Parts. “Looking at the big picture, owning the property that I operated my business out of was to my long-term gain. When the repair company failed, I checked the market and found that I could lease the property and do very well. I did just that and moved my rebuilding business close to home. Bottom line — if at all possible, purchase the property you operate out of and it will be good to you later,” he said. Back in the 60s, today’s “antique” import vehicles were newer vehicles that faced a parts and information crisis in the U.S. Petrucci credits his rabidly loyal customer base to spending the past four decades “offering more than parts and service.” At one point this included a 30- minute delivery offer, as well as technical seminars for customers. “We would start with an agenda that would sort of get their interest, however we often wandered as questions dictated,” he said. “Things would come up like “What do you do when a customer comes in at 6 pm to pick up his car and you find his credit card is maxed out?’ These cus- tomers knew their business of repairs but often the related issues would knock them silly. At this point, all jumped in with ideas and we soon built a close family that all enjoyed sharing time with. I thought it was great to be able to help and that created the bond keeping us all needing one another a little.” Petrucci found that by extending extra effort he was able to gain business. One example he gave was the day he can- vass