EARLY FORD STORE – SAN DIMAS, CALIFORNIA

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K in San Dimas, California…

After visiting the Donut Derelicts meet at Huntington Beach, the AC Promotions guys decided to take the tour group out to the historic town of San Dimas to visit the Early Ford Store.

Prior to my time in San Dimas, all I really knew about the town was that ‘San Dimas High School Football rules!’ and a few other pointless Bill and Ted’s Excellent adventure quotes.

What I was blessed with, was a really, really pretty town. Lots of historical buildings and plenty of plants growing throughout the streets. It appeared to be quite tranquil and appealing.

Craig Clements, part of the AC Promotions team, informed me that sadly, the old timber sidewalks were only recently removed and replaced with concrete – what a shit move.

The shop itself is situated in the original, San Dimas Garage that opened in the 1920s after the town was settled in 1887 – a product of Southern California’s great land boom.

I instantly loved the old school vibe in the store. There was stuff packed from floor to ceiling and it was literally, full to the brim.

There are rows upon rows of everything you can imagine – all things early Ford. With one of the largest inventories of original Ford parts, both NOS and used, along with a full line of the best reproduction parts available, you can almost guarantee that they will have what you need – it is one hell of a place.

The blokes behind the counter are low key, so relaxed and just happy to take things at their own pace. It appeared to be the same for the customers in the shop too. Being a Saturday morning, they were happy to chat amongst themselves.

The more I looked around, the cooler the stuff I found. Whether you’re looking for that perfect piece of original stainless trim, rare grille options, emblems, flathead parts, steering wheel, hubcaps, or any other odds and ends – this is where they’ve been hiding I reckon.

When I asked the old boys about their customers, they did remark that they do send a lot of stuff to Australia and some other place called New Zealand. Supposedly, not a week goes by that they don’t get an enquiry from us or our Trans-Tasman cousins.

It might have been a quick visit, but it was definitely worthwhile. The whole tour group loved it and as we left the town, I made sure to grab some incredible home-made Empanadas from a local shop that was just as pretty as the rest of the town.