According to its website, JC Whitney no longer prints its classic mail-order catalogue of automotive parts and accessories. In lieu of printed catalogues, the JC Whitney website provides free e-catalogs for the vehicle brand Jeep and the specialised area Truck. Other speciality books that JC Whitney previously printed and distributed periodically to subscribers, such as the Auto, Motorcycle, and Volkswagen catalogues, are no longer available.
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How to Find the Free JC Whitney E-Catalog
A few steps are required to access the JC Whitney website and electronic catalogues. Start by visiting the JC Whitney website. Scroll to the bottom of the page once there. Next, seek for “Get the JC Whitney E-Catalog” and click “E-Catalog” to the right of those words. Select the Jeep CJ and Wrangler or Truck e-catalog by clicking the correct option on the page.
Both the JC Whitney Jeep and Truck catalogues have a unique layout that mimics the action of flicking through a physical magazine. Both e-catalogs include a magazine-style layout on their pages.
How to Browse the Website Catalog for JC Whitney
Additionally, the website refers to its product pages as catalogues. To access the highlighted catalogue part of the website, go to the bottom of the company’s homepage. Under “Featured Catalogues,” choose to browse by manufacturer, component, or brand.
The JC Whitney web catalogue part functions similarly to the majority of retail websites. Visitors who wish to purchase any of JC Whitney’s products must navigate to the product’s website, add it to their basket, then pay for it at checkout.
Catalog of JC Whitney: An All-American Garage Classic
Israel Warshawsky, a Lithuanian immigrant who owned a scrapyard on Chicago’s south side in 1915, conceived of JC Whitney. Warshawsky created the name “JC Whitney” with the belief that an American-sounding company name would attract more customers. Warshawsky had some success when he specialised in automobile parts, especially for the Ford Model T.
In 1934, Warshawsky’s son Roy joined the company and sought to grow beyond Chicago. Roy’s decision to enter the mail-order catalogue business resulted in the conception of the classic JC Whitney catalogue.
While the catalogue contained affordable aftermarket replacement components, the majority of JC Whitney’s financial success came from the sale of accessories with larger profit margins and lower shipping costs.
In the decades that followed, JC Whitney catalogues with their small print descriptions and line art illustrations of the things for sale became a standard in American garages and car body shops. Primarily, they appealed to automobile aficionados seeking inexpensive solutions to dress up and maintain the appearance of their vehicles with kits.
Insolvency, Reconstruction, and Sale
The oil crisis that struck the United States in the 1970s and the growing concern over air pollution were devastating to the automobile industry. Also affected by these issues, JC Whitney declared bankruptcy in 1979. Due in part to the emergence of less expensive but more profitable aftermarket products, the company was able to recover in the succeeding decade through prudent debt management. Roy Warshawsky remained JC Whitney’s leader until his retirement in 1991. Warshawsky passed away in 1997, and the company was sold to Riverside Capital in 2002, which subsequently formed the Whitney Automotive Group (WAG) to include additional holdings such as CarParts.com.
JC Whitney Present
Under WAG’s administration, the JC Whitney brand was moderately successful. The brand, however, continued to age and failed to appeal to younger generations. Riverside opted to sell the brand while it was still lucrative due to declining sales.
US Auto Parts acquired WAG, including JC Whitney, for $27.5 million in 2010. Since then, the company has gradually transformed the brand into an online digital catalogue and retail website, eliminating the printed catalogue. Nevertheless, the printed catalogue was one of JC Whitney’s most recognisable contributions to the American automobile business.
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