Who could've guessed what was going to become of a little Southern California parts shop called Classic Performance Products, Inc. back in December 1991. 34 years later, CPP has become the industry's "go-to" specialist in steering, brakes and suspension products for classic cars and trucks.
With the support of his wife, Jill, Jim Ries opened for business in December of 1991 and has not looked back since. Ries grew up watching his dad, Jack "JR" Ries, run a successful classic truck parts business in the '60s and '70s, but wasn't ready to open shop until he had a few of his own real world experiences. When the monster truck craze hit Southern California, Ries got in on the action at the very beginning. Building and racing several of these massive vehicles for Horse Power Promotions gave him valuable knowledge on the inner workings of steering, brakes and suspension truck parts.
Moving from monster trucks to classic trucks, Ries worked for Seth Doulton at Golden State Pickup Parts for several years before venturing out on his own. Not satisfied to just sell parts, Ries set out to redefine the classic truck steering, brakes and suspension industry with better quality and better cost products. Based on the early success of the first manufactured products, the engine and transmission crossmembers, CPP went on to design Brake Booster Kits, C10 Lowering Kits and Suspension Kits, "Bolt On" Disc Brake Kits, and the list goes on.
In recent years, the development of CPP's Mini™ Sub-Frame Suspension Kits, Totally Tubular™ Control Arms, 500 Series™ Power Steering Boxes, Modular™ Spindles, SOS™ Brake Kits, and the award-winning MCPV1™ Master Cylinder has put Classic Performance Products, Inc. on the map. Working with the industry's top magazine editors at Super Chevy, Classic Trucks, Custom Classic Trucks, Hot Rod, Street Rodder, Rod & Custom, Drive!, and many more have provided us many opportunities to test our newly developed parts on vehicles for our customers to read about.
The early days were not glamorous for CPP. The Ries family was growing, and space in their initial company headquarters (the garage) was shrinking. Big decisions had to be made on the future of Classic Performance. In September of 1993, the lease was signed on a new storefront, complete with 300 sq. ft. showroom, sales office and warehouse in Buena Park, California. A new build department was added along with shipping and storage shelves. Finding success with the classic truck industry, and more room to grow, CPP expanded its product line to include classic car market, once again providing the same top quality products. CPP also added a full line of all the top brands in the industry: Brembo, RideTech, Lokar, Ididit, Total Cost Involved, Heidt's, Unisteer, Wilwood, Baer Brakes, and many more. CPP's engineers work closely with these companies when developing new products, having found that partnering together compliments each other's parts and ultimately benefitting the end user.
In May of 2005, CPP once again moved buildings to Anaheim, California. With an additional 10,000 sq. ft. added in 2008 and 2011, CPP was occupying over 40,000 sq. ft., including a beautiful 3,000 sq. ft. showroom, plus sales and business offices and shipping and receiving departments. This also allowed us to expand our manufacturing facilities including four milling centers and three lathes centers, R&D department, and graphics and marketing department. At the end of 2012, CPP once again grew, purchasing our own 80,000 sq. ft. building in Placentia, California. This enormous undertaking doubled our office, showroom, shipping and manufacturing space. This has enabled us to house our entire operation under one roof and more effectively and efficiently get parts to our customers.
As we move forward into our 34th year of business, we have not forgotten where it all began....building quality parts at an affordable price for our customers.
