Growing up I had an unhealthy obsession with classic American muscle cars. I was primarily a Mopar man, but really anything with enough steel, 300 or more horsepower, and a flashy paint job would do. I spent an altogether ridiculous amount of my youth studying the details of internal combustion engines, transmissions, carburetor cfm charts, gear and compression ratios, fluids’ viscosity and myriad other intricacies to prepare me for weekends under the hood of some monster from Detroit. Every night, you could find me devouring catalogues with page upon page of parts lists with their specifications and prices. One thing that always struck me was how many original parts used in these masterpieces of engineering were designed, developed, and delivered by companies whose badge was not on the hood of the car. OEM parts these were called. Why would these carmakers rely upon relatively unknown third parties to manufacture a huge percentage of the parts used in the cars? (more…)