Department Stores Would Happily Mail You An Engine In The Good Old Days

Once upon a time, the retail titans of Sears and JCPenney ruled across America. In addition to their dominating retail presence, the companies published fat mail-order catalog, filled to bursting with all the wares you could possibly imagine. You could get practically anything you wanted, from baby clothes to gravestones and everything you’d need in the intervening years as well. In fact, way back when, these retailers would even sell you a whole entire engine. Beat that, Walmart!

The 20th century really was the golden era for American retail. Department store footprints grew ever larger, often serving as anchor tenants for the malls that began to supplant traditional “Main Street” retail. The idea was to put as much as possible under one roof, because why would you want to go to multiple stores when you could get everything at just one? That same ethos underpinned the mail-order side of these businesses, too. Seasonal catalogs were published that often exceeded 1,000 pages in length. They typically featured long indexes to help customers find what they were looking for, which were inexplicably placed somewhere roughly in the middle of the catalog. Some suggest this was a feature designed specifically to irritate 21st century researchers, but it’s a theory yet to be confirmed with supporting evidence.

Sears was perhaps the most well-known operator in this space; its popular catalog was often referred to as “The Consumer’s Bible.” Founder Richard Warren Sears founded a number of mail-order catalogs, with the main operation kicking off in 1906 and eventually leading to the withered husk that is Sears today. JC Penney’s operation would launch its own catalog in 1963, to pair along with its long-established retail stores. Both were relative newcomers compared to mail-order specialists Montgomery Ward, however, which kicked off in 1872. Indeed, it was one of Sears’ earlier operations that proved to be the first major competition for Montgomery Ward in the dying years of the 19th century.

These catalogs typically featured everything from clothing to tools and home appliances, and even a strong range of automotive parts and accessories. Dress-up parts like lights and mirrors were common, as well as mufflers and air filters and other wear items. Of course, back in the old days, things like valves and rings were considered regular wear items, and you could order those too! Heck, you could even get a set of replacement rocker panels if yours had rusted out. But beyond all the bits and pieces, you could even order entire reconditioned engines and transmissions. In that era, a handful of engine designs covered the majority of cars on sale in America. Engines didn’t really last as long, with the sciences of metallurgy and lubrication not at the same level of advancement as today. Engine overhauls, rebuilds, and replacements weren’t so uncommon, creating a strong market for both parts and entire engines.

In my research, I’ve found a great number of preserved catalogs from the 20th century. Sadly, records available online are incomplete, with old retail catalogs rarely sitting top of the list for preservationists. Thankfully, organizations like the Internet Archive and a strange collection at Muse Technical exist, with hard-working archivists having digitized many of these publications. The latter collection is particularly useful for our purposes here, though true archivists don’t usually watermark over the source material.

Sears seems to have sold replacement engines for longer than most. The 1940 Sears Spring/Summer catalog features both remanufactured and “new block” engines for a variety of models. The engines were promoted as a great solution for those suffering from reduced performance in their current vehicle, touted as being little more expensive than an overhaul. Payment plans were offered that could make the deal more attractive, and engines were typically offered with a 90 day or 4000 mile warranty. That might sound short today, but the catalog states that it’s the same offered on new cars of the day. Short-block engines for Ford’s Flathead V8 Model A and B were available, along with short blocks and complete engines for the contemporary Chevrolet and Plymouth inline sixes.  Rebuilt transmissions were available, too. The work was typically handled by independent rebuilders, working under the Sears banner.

Sears still offered engines in its catalogs at least until 1993, and possibly longer. Most catalogs posted online are the Christmas and Wish Book editions that eschew most or all of the auto parts the company offered. Still, in the 1990s, you could get “premium” Sears Best remanufactured short blocks and long blocks in a variety of configurations, with the latter requiring the reuse of just the original valve covers, timing cover, and oil pan. Sears offered remanufactured Chevy 305s and 350s, Ford 302s and 351 Windsors, and GM’s 231 (3.8-liter) V6. You could also get Chrysler 318s and 360s.

Sears wasn’t just sticking to domestic stuff, either. It also offered engines for the VW Beetle as well as some Japanese models. Notably, import models got flat rate shipping at $70, compared to $80 for domestic engines. It’s clearly a decision made given that most domestic engines were larger and heavier on average than the import stuff. Notably, Japanese and VW engines were sold outright, while domestic engines could be had cheaper if you traded-in your old engine.

Domestic engines got the best warranty at 5 years or 50,000 miles. Import engines had to make do with 3 years and 36,000 miles, while diesel, rotary, and VW engines were only warrantied for 12 months or 12,000 miles. Yes, you could really ring Sears in 1993 and ask them to sell you a reconditioned engine for your Mazda RX-7. Did anyone ever do this?! I’m positively dying to know.

JC Penney sold engines right out of the blocks when it published its first catalog in 1963. However, my research shows the engines available only up until the 1969 catalog. The 1970 catalogs remain a mystery to me, and engines appear entirely absent by 1971. Unlike Sears, JC Penney, or “Penney’s” as its catalog was known, didn’t really try to brand the operation as an in-house thing. It was open about the fact that it was offering remanufactured engines, crankshafts, and transmissions from Foremost, which were shipped straight from the factory.

J.C. Penney, as it was then known, primarily sold domestic remanufactured engines, complete with heads. Early on, it covered brands like Oldsmobile, Nash, and Studebaker, in addition to the main brands from the Big Three. In 1969, It covered a wide range of Ford and Mercury products, including the Mustang, Comet, Falcon, and Fairlane, along with Dodge, Chevy, and Plymouth products, too. By then, it even offered a remanufactured V8 for the Pontiac GTO. You could also get a range of Willys Jeep engines, including the 134 and 161 engines in both flathead and overhead-valve configurations, as well as the 226 flathead six as well. You could also score a remanufactured VW engine if you were getting around in a Beetle, Karmann Ghia, or a Transporter.  In 1969, the engines came with a 12 month or 12,000 mile warranty. Via the Penney’s catalog, Foremost offered 40 different engines, including the VW ones.

Montgomery Ward was a competitor to both companies mentioned above, and operated as a mail-order business first and foremost. It offered engines in many of its catalogs, with the earliest I’ve found coming from 1956, and the latest 1985. It’s possible they were offered outside those dates, too, though the brand died in 2001. After poor sales in the 2000 Christmas season, the company announced it would cease operating entirely, laying off a full 37,000 employees and shutting 250 retail outlets in the process.

Still, when it was around, Montgomery Ward was more than happy to help with your engine troubles. In 1956, it touted the virtues of its rebuilt motors, noting they were completely rebuilt. “Every bolt, stud and plug removed, all worn parts are junked,” noted the copy. Much like its contemporaries, the company touted its remanufactured engines as a superior option to a simple overhaul involving fresh rings and reground valves. It offered engines for domestic makes, including the Big Three, Jeep, Studebaker, and even Kaiser-Frazer. By 1985, it was still focusing on U.S. product, offering engines largely just for Chevy, Dodge, Plymouth, Ford, and Mercury models. Rebuilds were handled by factories in a number of states, with shipping arranged from the closest factory to the customer. Engines could be bought outright, or had marginally cheaper by trading in one’s old engine.

Eventually, though, engines left the hallowed pages of the most glorious catalogs in all of capitalism. AS number of factors were likely at play. Over the years, technology improved, and engines started lasting longer with far less performance drop-off over time. Back in the day, the catalogs talked about the greater power and performance of a brand-new or reconditioned engine, versus a tired old one. In the middle of the 20th century, an engine running on old-school fuel and old-school lubricants could be pretty worn out by the 100,000 mile mark. These days, engines tend to run well for hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained, at which point a car tends to become uneconomical to repair.

Trends also changed, with fewer people working on their own cars. Engine variants proliferated to a great degree, too, where before stocking just a few engines would cover a vast number of vehicles on the road. Indeed, Sears abandoned a table in its catalogs and switched to a hotline, likely for this very reason. In any case, if you add  up all these factors, and it’s easy to see why Sears and JCPenney got out of the business.

Of course, it bears noting that you can still mail order an engine today. You just need to do it from a dedicated auto supplier instead of a general department store. With that said, it’s also possible to consider Amazon as a natural successor to the sell-you-everything ethos of Sears and JCPenney. And, wouldn’t you know it, you can order a crate engine from Amazon, though options are largely limited to a handful of Ford and Chevy V8s. Oh, and this 10.3L diesel for a New Holland combine harvester. If you’ve got the coin to spare, drop the latter in a Crown Victoria and drop us a line.

It’s actually kind of strange to think of Amazon selling high-performance crate engines. If I was going to drop close to $30,000 on a crate engine, I would probably want to order it from a specialist supplier that handles such items regularly.

The sad reality of our modern world is that you can’t thumb through a big paper catalog on the toilet and pick out a remanufactured engine for your ’65 Chevy. It really is a shame, but at least we have … nope, I’m being told that straws suck today, too. Well, let’s just celebrate the fact that we’ve got the Internet, fuel injection, and engines that last more than 100,000 miles without shredding the rings and scoring the bores to hell. Hooray!

Image credits: Sears, JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Amazon via screenshot