The auto recycling history of Ralph James, owner of Ralph's Auto Supply (B.C.) Ltd., begins much earlier than the formation of his company in 1961.

Ralph's father Abe and his partner started Vancouver Auto Wrecking back in 1919, the first auto recycler in Western Canada. Vancouver Auto Wrecking began as a result of a previous venture run by Abe and his partner: Vancouver Rent A Car, Western Canada's first car rental operation.

In 1918, Abe and his partner had purchased 13 Ford Model T's that had been rejected by the city's Ford dealership for smoke damage from the numerous tunnels passed through during their train journey from Michigan. Abe and his partner decided the vehicles would be ideal for a car rental firm and their business was formed. However, there were two main problems with renting automobiles in 1918: vehicle reliability was still in its infancy and most customers had little or no driving experience.

It wasn't long before the Model T's, one by one, ended their lives being smashed up or retired from parts breakdown. As the vehicles were taken off the road, Abe and his partner kept the rest of the fleet running with spare parts from non-runners. At that point the local people began noticing these stored vehicles becoming less and less complete and were walking in and asking to buy parts from them.

In 1919, as the last of the Model T's were nearing time for replacement, a quick economic comparison led Abe and his partner to change their business from renting to recycling. By the end of the 1930's, Abe had taken on sole ownership of Vancouver Auto Wrecking and had his two young sons, Morton and Ralph, working for him on a part time basis.

In 1961, when Abe decided to retire, Morton was left with the downtown Vancouver business and the name. Ralph received the storage yard on East 2nd Avenue in Vancouver which he named Ralph's Auto Supply. Ralph's first sale was a 1948 GMC 1/2 ton door handle, resulting in 80 cents being deposited into his cash register. For the first year, Ralph's weekly sales averaged about $200.

Ralph's began expanding to other locations in 1976 when the company opened A-Scott Discount in Surrey. In 1978 Ralph's opened its first location on Mitchell Island in Richmond, followed by second and third locations in 1982 and 1984. In 1994 Ralph's moved out of their original 2nd Avenue location.

In October of 1997. Ralph's Empire Used Auto Parts (Abbotsford) Ltd. became the company's fifth division. Located in the Lower Mainland valley, Ralph's Empire Used Auto Parts is Ralph's second largest facility after A-Scott Discount.

And finally, April 1, 2001, Ralph's Scott Road Japanese opened it's doors, heralding Ralph's sixth and newest operation. Just one block from Ralph's A-Scott Discount, Ralph's Japanese gives the company a second Surrey location and an additional 5 acres of inventory.

All of these locations are in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Ralph's partnership with Vancouver Core Supply began in 1986.

Vancouver Core Supply, our associate company, is Western Canada's largest supplier of cores to automotive rebuilders in North America. Specializing in engines and components, from long blocks down to individual items such as carburators, distributors, starters, alternators, timing covers, cylinder heads etc., Vancouver Core Supply processes over 1,000 engines every month. As well, Vancouver Core Supply is a major provider of brake calipers to North American rebuilders and catalytic converters to metal recyclers.