Aftermarket Culture and Motivation
The aftermarket culture is composed of the good, the bad, and the "Made in China." There are so many aftermarket parts manufacturers that from time to time a consumer gets less than what they expected from the product. Car owners have as many different goals in mind as there are parts for them to pick from. From decorative moldings and trim, to all out race parts that will make any car enthusiast drool, the possibilities seem endless. Even though the goals of each car owner might differ, the basic idea is all the same, to make the vehicle not only better but unique.
Aftermarket manufacturers are often better than their OEM counterparts. Original equipment manufacturers provide parts that originally came on the vehicle. Whether the part breaks or the owner decides to upgrade is not really important. The reasoning behind going to an aftermarket manufacturer is because a consumer is either getting a better deal or the part is of better quality. This is where getting what you pay for comes into play. While there are aftermarket companies that provide a better quality products for less, there are also manufacturers that provide a cheaper alternative which is even worse than the OEM part. This is where the consumer must do some research before committing to a product.
There are aftermarket companies that give a consumer more than what they actually pay for. Most of the time these manufacturers are already well known by car enthusiasts. For the simple car owner all it takes is a trip to the internet and a glance at some reviews. There is no reason a buyer should get stuck with a sub-par aftermarket part with today's resources at hand. If there is no cheap solution provided by reputable parts manufacturers, buying the less expensive no name part is throwing money down the drain. The car owner is better off spending a little more for a part that will most likely last much longer.
Now that the new aftermarket part is sitting and waiting to be installed it is hard to reflect on why it was bought in the first place. There are different types of car enthusiasts and more ideas than one can imagine. There are those that are all about the looks, interior and exterior upgrades are endless. These upgrades can be simple and clean, flashy, or even gaudy. Whatever the style, the owner provides a car that is mostly show and maybe a little go. Which is fine by the owner's standards but frowned upon by performance addicts.
Those that need a performance boost often change everything mechanical in sight in order to make their car faster than the guy in the next lane. Some strip as many needless parts as possible just to make the car lighter. Others enjoy a clean, stock looking car that can punish the majority of the cars on the road with ease. Both styles of modifying are respected as long as the car is moving faster than before.
There are also those that modify everything to truly make their car one of a kind. More beautiful and more powerful are the only two goals in mind. Some cars become trailer queens and never see the road, while others prowl the streets turning heads everywhere they go. Cars are made into one off pieces that could win a ribbon at any car show or event. The endless hours and hard work become just a means to make the perfect car, a unique car.
The aftermarket has been around since the first self powered vehicle hit the road in 1769. Designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin, going 2 miles per hour never felt so good. In 1885, Karl Benz churned out the first gasoline powered automobile. Each designer and inventor having only one thing in mind, to make a vehicle that was better than its predecessor.
Vehicles were still something new and not an item everyone could afford. That is until Henry Ford came along and developed ways to make these vehicles more affordable by decreasing the effort and cost it took to manufacture an automobile. Ford sold his first car, called the Quadracycle, at the end of 1896 for $200 and used the money to make another one. By 1903, Henry Ford officially offered a car for sale to the public. While Henry Ford is the better known automobile manufacturer, it was Ransom E. Olds who was the first to mass produce gasoline powered automobiles in the United States. There are many more innovators that made the automobile industry into what it is today and all motivated to make a better product than available before.
These innovators were in a way the first aftermarket manufacturers. They did not provide the owners a means to be unique in terms of parts, instead the whole car itself became a unique part of its owner's personality. Once more automobiles were produced people needed a way to stand out from the crowd. Metal work and paint were the easiest ways to modify a car. Simply painting the steel rims brought out the personality of the owner as well as the car itself. True aftermarket parts were not far behind, one off metal pieces made in the garage made their way to mass production. Aftermarket manufacturers will outlive the automobile companies they improve upon. The aftermarket has an endless fuel supply provided by car owners that will always have the need to show their pride, passion, and their yearning to be unique.
