Bill was born in 1939 to a family forged in the Great Depression. He grew up hearing “be thankful for what you have” and “don’t be wistful for anything.” But like most ambitious young men, this had the opposite effect. Bill dreamed of being a race car driver, wearing alligator skin boots and the hottest new sunglasses while driving his Lincoln and listening to Elvis on the radio. This wasthe antithesis of his upbringing.

After moving out of the family house, Bill joined the Air Force in the early 1960s. While stationed in the South, he grew to appreciate California values of equality and discovered street jazz in New Orleans. After his time in the South was done, he finished his service at Travis Air Force Base. He worked long shifts at Travis at night and then doubled up during the day, working for a guy named Auto in the Bay Area repairing cars. He had a knack for long working hours and grit.

During this time, he bought himself a 1955 Porsche. He entered autocrosses on weekends and started to rack up wins, revealing his next skill: he was a wheel man. As racing got its claws into Bill, he had his eye on two new things: upgrading his racer to the next faster option and the hot little blonde who lived across the street from his parents’ house.

Bill started out road racing his new Austin Healey and mastered the art of standing starts and keeping the brakes cool. On the off weekends, the hot little blonde, known as the Fox, would help him change plugs and bleed brakes. Seeing the new 1965 Hot Rod magazine centerfold changed everything. It was the new 1965 Shelby. All bets were off except for the blonde. Bill’s focus was now the Mustang. He traded in his daily driver, a Pontiac, for his first Shelby, the first of many moves in his love affair with the Mustang.

As Bill started to race his Mustangs, he noticed that there were very few parts available for these amazing cars. He built a relationship with Hayward Ford, and the cast was set. Mustangs needed parts, and the boys at Hayward Ford could be friends to lean on. Bill became known as the Mustang guy who road raced, unlike most others who drag raced. This drew attention to all the locals who were attracted to this new scene.

In 1967, Bill married the Fox, now Shirley Maier. In 1969, Bill gathered support from Shirley, Bill’s mother Margaret, and their future lifelong friend Jerry Lecatsas to start Maier Racing in the back of the Maier house garage. At the same time, Bill and Shirley had their first child, Charlie. In true Maier style, they were all in, racing their 1968 coupe, building a business, and raising a loving family surrounded by friends. And as they say, off to the races!

In 1973, Bill and Shirley had their second son, Eddie. As the business grew, so did the racing wins. In 1976, Bill won driver of the year in SCCA A sedan. In 1977, Bill and Shirley had their third son, Mike. The company was now in a building down the road, and a beautiful home was being built up in the hills of Hayward overlooking the bay. By 1979, Bill found himself with his crew traveling the entire circuit of the SCCA Trans Am series. He was the only one to complete the entire series that year.

In the early 1980s, Bill and Shirley bought the warehouse that would produce the majority of Mustang enthusiast aftermarket parts throughout the next several decades. They sold body kits to the studios that created famous Mustangs like the convertible from Interspace, the Elanor Mustang, and many others, including Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s RTR-X and the hit TV show Overhaulin’. Not to mention the countless customer builds that relied on Bill’s designs. Magazine editors from Peterson Publishing were a constant at the Maier shop looking for fresh content. Front covers, back covers, and multiple articles in between referencing the Maier name were now the norm.

Handcrafting parts with care, supporting the local community, and never giving up were Bill’s guiding principles. He knew that to achieve his goals, he needed to be healthy in mind and body. The whole family went to the local church every Saturday night at five, and youth group sports during the week. His children’s sports were of the utmost importance. He jogged three days a week, rain or shine, and lifted free weights the other three days a week to ensure that he could keep up with his busy lifestyle. Being a huge fan of Jack LaLanne, Bill started to build up equipment for his own gym in one corner of his warehouse. He was a huge fitness enthusiast. Everything came together to create the look he had always dreamed of, driving his Lincoln with his hot new sunglasses on, alligator boots on his feet, Elvis on the radio, and his little hot blonde by his side. Bill achieved his dreams. He dreamt of a scene where all sorts of cool parts were available at our fingertips, something that was not normal in his time. He dreamt of the life he wished to have: a race car driver, a loving dad, husband, and true friend. To achieve these goals, one must have a tenacious will, vision when others do not, and incredible self-belief. For this, I say that I am sorry for our loss. But the greatest loss would be if we were not inspired and thankful for his example.

The post Remembering Bill Maier appeared first on Mike Maier Inc.

We had several customers come by the shop to talk cars and hang out. It was great seeing you all and we hope to see you again next year!

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Why is Maier behind the wheel of a Corvette? Did I see him in a Toyota?! What happened to the old school Mustangs? Let Mike tell you why he’s been spotted behind the wheels of *gasp* cars besides vintage Mustangs.

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Undeterred, they pressed on, putting together a list of preferred parts and vendors. We were happy to be included on the list as the suspension supplier. Once their order came in, we set to work building the parts that would make their way under this father/sons’ project.

Unbeknownst to any of us however, was that our little shop was about to get many orders. Many more than we’d seen before. As a business owner this was great, even necessary, but it brought with it many new challenges. Fulfillment, customer support, shipping times, and so on slowed down as we put 110% of our efforts into getting product out the door for customers.

This made Roy’s project more difficult. Parts took a while to arrive, and when they did, the instructions needed more explaining. Calls went unreturned. Naturally Roy had a few choice words for us, and we deserved them. But with a limited crew, our efforts went into crafting products, even if it meant a delay in getting on the phone. This balancing act ultimately became overwhelming for our team. As my mother says, “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Folks like Roy and his boys felt as though they were in a way dropped, and rightfully so.

But Roy and his boys kept chugging along. They struggled through many of the same battles we all do when building a car. Will this part work with that part? How do you plumb brake lines? How is it possible that these brand new ball joints suck right out of the box?! These are the trials and tribulations we all face, but that’s how you earn your stripes as a hot rod builder.

Then, this last Christmas, our family had the opportunity to head out to Hawaii. I decide I want to meet Roy and his boys face-to-face and see the progress they’d made and if there was any way I could help them. So we took the drive to finally meet Roy. A big guy and proud too. Proud of his home and most of all his boys. They had built the car under a temporary makeshift tent on the side of his house. The whole layout was pretty awesome. He lived on the side of the volcano with all sorts of dream roads winding up and down the mountain. California has some cool roads, but a volcano drive was a whole new experience. Outside the Mustang was parked, waiting for us to take it out. He gave us a quick tour of his beautiful home and swiftly told the family we were going for a drive.

He jumped bare in barefoot, true island style. Started it up and idled down the weaving neighborhood roads. As we spoke I was paying attention to his driving. He was relaxed. The car was humming along. No jumping, no jerking. Thin two-lane roads over rises and back around blind curves. He told me they built the car for this road, the one he had driven for the last 30 years to work. He also told me he was frustrated at times with our phone skills, but his boys calmed him down and they kept wrenching.

We got down to our turn around point about 10-15 minutes down the road. He asked if I wanted to try it out on the way back up the hill. This will never get old. In this position you get to experience someone’s hard work and effort: their pride and effort is wrapped up in this machine. So being able to drive these cars is always more than a drive for me.

The car was tight. No sloppy workmanship here. The steering was simple and worked well. The brakes were on point. The motor was crisp and clean. It spun smooth like sewing machine. They got the new TKX transmission which shifted clean. Coming into turns blipping the throttle on down shifts was simple and seamless. The car carved the corners effortlessly letting you know that there was way more available in the way of grip. I asked him how many miles he had driven it. The response was just a couple of test runs up and down the hill. Wow… to build a complete car in a tent and it already drives so clean I thought.

During the drive he told me that interfacing the power steering with the accessory drive package was a real pain. Matching our parts with others is always a challenge. This introduces unknown variables we all have to work through. As it turned out the bolt pattern for our pump ended up working with his kit. For someone who has never done this kind of thing before, it can be a real challenge finding someone to help. You end up learning by doing, which can be costly and time consuming. We totally understand because we had to learn them too.

I believe the greatest way we can help our customers is by offering a superior product. This has been the core of our business since we started. Design and build awesome stuff that delivers an exceptional long term user experience and people will want it. But as a growing business we’re learning the importance of everything that goes with building cool stuff. The customer experience is not only the satisfaction of the parts once installed, but everything before that as well. How long did it take to get there? Were the instructions detailed and helpful? Can we get back to customers in a timely basis with an answer to their questions?

These are all things we’re working on improving.

There are some questions we’ll never be able to answer well. I don’t know if our power steering is going to work with that header kit you bought from eBay. I can’t say why you’re having a hard time bleeding your brakes. What’s the best engine for an early Mustang? …um, a fast one?

Look, we’re not trying to make excuses. We want to create an awesome experience for our customers and we’re working on many improvements in this area. But we’re not Amazon. Getting to build and design your own stuff instead of ordering it from a factory in China means we get to work firsthand on making it better. But it also means we’re the ones responsible for the entire process from start to finish. The buck stops with us. Our primary focus will always be delivering an exceptional product that outperforms for years to come.

All the while we were still driving. The car rode great around the tight volcanic roads. It hooked up and turned in with confidence. This type of experience took years for us to develop. Our goal was to create a surefooted approach to a turn that lets customers roll through with a smile instead of terror. The smile on his face was worth the trip.

Seeing Roy enjoy his family’s work is what it is all about for us. It was awesome seeing the result of their hard work. Getting to this point may not have been easy, but the finished product spoke for itself. Reducing the pain of learning will be an ongoing job for us for sure. One by one we will check off the to do list. But the short list for us is the finished products’ performance and the final smiles of those who enjoy them.

Thank you so much to Roy, Max and Rocky for sticking it out with us.

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Nor-Cal Shelby Club 11:30 am – 2:00 pm (club members only)

Mike will lead a shop tour where he will explain the science and craft behind our suspension parts, talk about the tools/machines that make these parts as well as taking questions along the way.  Then we will do a chalk talk on suspension and how to make your car handle like you want it to.

This will be from 11:30-2:00 and lunch will be provided. If you want lunch you must register for the event at MotorsportReg.com. The club needs a headcount to know how much food to have on hand.

Open House 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm (open to anyone!)

Come by the shop and hang out with the MMI crew! We’ll offer tours of the shop, bench racing, and a welcoming social atmosphere. For those who haven’t been here before, there are several wineries and breweries within walking distance. Most offer food as well. Dress warm, we’ll have the garage doors rolled up for an open air environment.

The post Feb 12., 2022 – Open House & Shop Tour appeared first on Mike Maier Inc.

Why is it so difficult to get Mustang parts lately? In this interview with Mike Maier, we take a behind the scenes look at how MMI has been working and growing through the uncertainties of the past year. Mike walks us through the challenges the company has faced, and the success found along the way. We also talk about a few new products in development and how the coming years might look for MMI and its customers.

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