2024MarchApril-CJ - 33

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
The first NARSA Officers Meeting in 1954
You can add one more fun fact to the list
above: The National Automotive Radiator
Service Association was founded and
incorporated in Michigan in 1954. A group
of like-minded businessmen founded
our association to give businessmen the
opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and
develop relationships with distributors
and manufacturers. The premise for
establishing the association and what
our mission is today hasn't changed. We
may use different fancier words, but the
mission is still the same: to provide a
forum for the exchange of information
that will allow you to make more money.
In the early years, the association
experienced steady growth. I am not
sure how many radiator shops were in
business in 1954, but when I started in
the business in 1981, there were well over
14,000 radiator service businesses. At the
height of membership in the association,
we had around 1,400 members which were
almost entirely from the United States and
Canada. International members weren't a
target market, nor were they encouraged
to join. Europe had their own radiator
associations. There were many shops
in every major city. In Baltimore in 1981,
there were probably 25 radiator shops
within 25 miles of me. As anyone who has
been in this business for the last 30 years
knows, there are very few radiator service
businesses left compared to the 70s
and 80s.
The middle to the end of the 1980s saw
a decline in radiator service, and the
number of shops also started to decline.
The decrease of automotive radiator work
was a direct result of the prevalence of
aluminum in radiator manufacturing. With
aluminum doubling the average age of a
car radiator and the sales of complete car
radiators, radiator shops were scrambling
to replace work they had become
accustomed to. For radiator shops to stay
relevant and grow, they had to replace
automotive repair either with new auto
radiator distribution or service work in other
areas such as trucks, agricultural, heavy
equipment, industrial, heat exchangers,
fuel tank repair, welding and fabrication.
There were many shops who downsized
and eventually went out of business when
the owner was ready to retire.
March/April 2024 | THE COOLING JOURNAL | 31
2024MarchApril-CJ

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