Founded in Kentucky & Made in the USA - Parts Unlimited Interiors

You don't need to be a famous economist like Adam Smith to know that where there's demand in the marketplace, there will eventually be a supply of the items in demand to fulfill those needs and wants. When Rollo Fox and his wife Colleen sought some recommendations about what sort of automobile they might purchase for commuting to the University of Louisville, KY, Colleen's car collecting and restoring father, H.V. Morris recommended a Chevrolet Corvair. Mr. Morris opined that the Corvair was the "best transportation for the cost."

1964 Corvair - Safe & Practical at Any Speed - & a Money Maker too

Mr. Morris soon after advised his daughter and son-in-law, former high school sweethearts that they were, to attend a Corvair collectors' convention in Chicago in 1974. While driving from St. Matthews, KY to Chicago for the convention, the couple stopped at a GM dealership in Frankfort, IN seeking Corvair parts. They purchased about $50 worth of items. Not long after arriving on the scene at the Chicago Corvair owners' convention, other show goers learned that the Foxes had some great parts in the Corvair's trunk. The Foxes wound up selling half of the items and drove home with $300 in profit.

What started as a need for some new components for their Corvair, became a NOS (New Old Stock) parts treasure hunting and traveling business visiting Chevy dealerships across the country. Since Mrs. Fox had some mail-order experience, she advertised the parts in auto enthusiast magazines that targeted car restorers. Combined with Rollo's analytical talents, the happily married couple also made good partners in their small but expanding business. 

The business' biggest roadblock to success and even survival was evident. Eventually, they would run out of NOS and original GM replacement parts to purchase and resell, and their Corvair parts supply business would close. Despite the company's name, the parts weren't unlimited. They were finite. In order to keep the doors open and to grow, the couple began to reproduce some Corvair parts. Not long thereafter, they began to manufacture Corvair interior items and then expanded to producing other GM models interior components.

From Trunk, to Basement, to Larger Facilities in Kentucky

Parts Unlimited Interiors is one of those successful entrepreneurial business stories where one thing has led to another, and the small company continues to expand and grow in a controlled, logical fashion. Literally founded physically in a 1964 Corvair's trunk (so to speak), PUI has expanded to the Morrises' basement, to the Jefferson Trade Center in December of 1984, to a 51,400-square foot facility in Louisville, KY, and currently to a 120,000-square foot facility in Oldham County Business Park, La Grange, KY that houses over 100 employees. Approximately 97% to 98% of Parts Unlimited Interiors products are manufactured in the USA, while eight to nine percent of product sales are attributed to being items manufactured overseas. Having most of the parts produced in the United States and most of the sales attributed to U.S. made parts is a success story in and of itself. But Parts Unlimited Interiors isn't resting on its laurels.

Parts Unlimited Interiors Acquired by Restoration Parts Unlimited - August 2013

With this acquisition, PUI joined Trim Parts, B&M Racing, Hurst Shifters, Hurst Driveline, Flowmaster, and Dinan Engineering. PUI continued to sell through over 100 dealers in the US and on a worldwide basis. After being involved with automotive horsepower for so many decades, the Foxes have retired to a horse ranch that they acquired in Kentucky.

Parts Unlimited Interiors Purchased by Classic Industries - October 2023

The recent acquisition of PUI by Classic Industries has greatly benefited both automotive aftermarket industry leaders in a very short amount of time. PUI's raw material supply chain issues have gone from a several-month lead time to two to three weeks. Accordingly, lead times for delivery of PUI products to aftermarket dealers has decreased from several months to less than one month. By growing in a controlled and deliberate fashion, PUI has eliminated most of the sort of entrepreneurial mistakes and has developed a comprehensive product portfolio for a wide range of makes and models, including GM, Mopar, and Ford.

The sizable Parts Unlimited Interiors manufacturing facility has grown to house sophisticated machinery to produce the vast variety of seat upholstery, interior door panels, window felts, and other interior soft and hard goods for a growing number of Ford models, GM offerings, and Mopar vehicles. Though some of these machines are computer controlled, they are all overseen by more than 80 automotive interior artisans, many of whom have been working at Parts Unlimited Interiors for decades. If your customers are looking to trim their American muscle cars' interiors with USA manufactured interior soft and hard goods, Parts Unlimited Interiors is the answer.