Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center: Nine Decades Later & Faster Than Ever
During the Depression, Scoggin-Dickey sold vehicles in trade for livestock, farmland, windmills, and even one oil lease.
(This article was originally published on Corvette Forum
and is being reused here with permission.)
I was recently researching a (fingers crossed) future LS Swap Roadmaster project build, when my parts list Googling kept returning me to one place: Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center. Not only were their prices at or below everywhere else I looked, but their customer service reps are super helpful with questions, and their selection is vast. It was only after I realized SDPC is actually an LS1Tech Premier Vendor.
You’ve probably heard the name before if you come from the GM Performance world. I grew up in Ford household, and although SDPC has been a Ford retailer for 30 years, they were new to me. So, as I was looking over their site, I saw the Lubbock, Texas-based superstore not only just celebrated its 90th Anniversary last year, but the original founders formed the company a few months before The Great Depression. This, in my mind, speaks directly to the reason why they’ve lasted so long and have become the go-to place for crate engines, and all sorts of go-fast parts.
To test my theory, I sat down with Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center’s Outside Sales & Events Manager, Keith Wilson, for a quick interview to find out more about the SDPC, and what’s popular in the GM Performance world today.
Corvette Forum: Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center, SDPC, was founded in 1929. How did the company come to be?
Keith Wilson: Two bothers in law, Jay Ray Dickey and A.L. Scoggin, sold their grocery store to buy the Pontiac Dealership in Lubbock, Texas in 1929. Ownership of the dealership traveled through family lines until they merged in 1983 when John Zwiacher and Ann Scoggin Zwiacher became the owners of the dealership which is now Scoggin Dickey-Chevrolet/Buick/Chrysler/Subaru/Isuzu-Medium Duty.
How the heck did it manage to survive The Great Depression when it was such a new business?
According to John Zwiacher, “In the depression years, it was not uncommon for customers to barter for payment of new vehicles. They (Mr. Scoggin & Mr. Dickey) sold vehicles in trade for Live Stock, Farm Land, Wind Mills and I remember that there was an Oil Lease on the books for many years. Even as late as the early 70’s a customer purchased a vehicle for the appraised value of a bunch of Diamonds!”
SDPC remains a family-owned business 91 years later, which is a rarity. Can you tell me about the 4th generation owners and how that sense of family trickles into the business as a whole, for customers and employees?
David Zwiacher (General Sales Manager) and Jackie Zwiacher Odom ( Human Resources) are the fourth generation that is involved heavily with the daily business and future planning of the Scoggin Dickey Auto Group. Both David and Jackie worked for Scoggin Dickey as teenagers before leaving for University and then returning to the dealership. This sense of family trickles down to the way they view and treat both employees and customers.
“You don’t make your money on the part when you sell it,
you make it when you BUY it!”
SDPC advertises stocking “more GM parts plus thousands of your favorite automotive brands” along with your price busters guarantee. How are you able to be so competitive and your pricing and in-stock options?
Nicky Fowler (above right), Fixed Operations Manager, often quotes his father Wendell Fowler who said, “You don’t make your money on the part when you sell it, you make it when you BUY it!” Scoggin Dickey, when possible, negotiates with the manufacturer for discounted large volume purchases and passes the discount on to the customer. The genesis of this thinking came about when Wendell foresaw the early 1970s GM strike and convinced the owners to pace a multi-million dollar stock order with GM to prepare for a parts shortage. The order was so large that it was rejected by GM several times. Finances from Dallas, Texas had to be arranged and submitted to GM before they would receive & ship the order. As predicted, the GM strike happened, and dealers and individuals were literally calling in from around the world to buy parts that were globally unavailable.
What are the most-popular engines right now for swaps and racecar builds? Also, what types of builds are most popular? IE, are you seeing mostly weekend racers (drag or otherwise), or restorations and resto-mods?
Scoggin-Dickey Chevrolet is not your typical dealership. We stock hundreds of lines of aftermarket performance parts and we have our own racing engine shop, called the Scoggin Dickey RaceShop with engine and chassis dyno facility in the same building. We build custom street and racing engines as well as selling street and racing crate engines, Generally, the RaceShop builds anything from 750hp LS or LT road race engines to 3,000 + HP forced induction Big Block Drag Racing engines. For swaps generally, we cover those with a Chevrolet, Mopar, or Ford crate engine. Racecar builds will definitely end up coming out of the RaceShop.
SDPC also produces and sells its own camshafts. Is there an overall theme to your grinds and which cams are most popular right now?
When a new engine series is introduced we go to work grinding cams and testing these on the dyno and in our own cars until we feel we have a broad offering for different applications. Currently, forced induction LS, GenV LT, Gen III Hemi cams and DOD/AFM Delete Cams & Kits are very popular.
We’re hoping to do an LS Swap project with a ’90s B-Body Buick Roadmaster wagon. Any advice for folks looking to start their first build or LS/LT swap?
Our first questions are these that help us guild the customer
- What is your application and how will it be used? We want to determine the engine compartment room and if any engine management exists. Can we get the horsepower level and reliability from a crate engine or is this a custom build.
- How are you going to Fuel it? What exists in the car, what needs to be upgraded to support fuel requirements? Rules if raced?
- How are you going to cool it? Do you have enough airflow in your application and for your intended HP level and use or are we going to have to get creative?
Usually, if you can research these before you buy, you will be less frustrated and money-ahead with your build. Our professional sales team that just deals with performance is here to help you sort out answers and options for customer questions.
In your opinion, what’s the best bang-for-your-buck mod any Corvette or Camaro owner can make to their LS or LT-era cars?
Most of our guys in performance would say something like this order:
- Cold Air Intake, Headers and a tune
- Cam Swap and a tune.
Me personally, I would say install the biggest brake upgrade that your wheels and budget can afford. You’ll love it every time you step on the brakes!…and personally I would do all the previously mentioned as well ☺ .
The Scoggin-Dickey RaceShop builds anything from 750hp LS or LT road race engines to 3,000 + HP forced induction Big Block Drag Racing engines.
Keith, when did you come to SDPC, and do you have any project vehicles?
I started with SDPC as the Outside Sales Manager for O.E. Parts in 2008 and started to travel with the Performance Sales crew to shows. I quickly learned how much I didn’t know even though I had built a few engines and cars for years. I first built a 70 ½ SS Camaro with a Large Oval port 468 cid Big Block most of the parts purchased on Saturday from the Scoggin Dickey retail parts counter.
I also purchased a 2000 TransAm from one of our machine shop customers in another town and started the cam swap on the LS1 two weeks later. Before I sold it a few years ago it was a purpose-built car for “Open Road Racing” such as the Texas Big Bend Open Road Race or Nevada Silver State Challenge. We built a 400 cid LSX block engine for sustained rpm and the car went through all that is necessary to drive at 165 mph on a closed state highway for a continuous 22-30 minutes and live.
We live it here at Scoggin Dickey!
SDPC is most famous as a GM parts and performance dealer, but can you tell us about how you’ve been expanding into Ford Performance and other brands?
Actually we have been a Ford Performance dealer for around 30 years. Wendell Fowler was the parts manager from 1962-2002 and drove in NHRA’s Stock Eliminator class for years. Wendell was good friends and parts supplier to Raymond Beadle of the Blue Max Top Fuel Funny Car fame. Wendell started going with Raymond to SEMA in the early ’70s to connect with other high-performance suppliers to ramp up Scoggin Dickey’s performance offering. It was at one of those SEMA’s that Ford approached Wendell about becoming a dealer, and the rest is history. Wendell’s son Nicky Fowler, an Engineer & Racer, now runs the entire parts and engine operation and was hired by Wendell to take it into the “computer age.”
Any upcoming sales or SDPC events for which our readers and forum members should keep a lookout?
“We plan but nature has its plan!” We had a plan in 2019 for 2020 with many promotions and ways to engage all customer segments, however, all those plans are being revised and we await with great expectations for the world to open back up! Stayed tuned at www.sdparts.com for all sales and promotions or call us at 1-800-456-0211 for more personal service.
Photos: Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center
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