Joseph Cox is an entrepreneur who won't buy a car part if he thinks he can build it better himself. He gets this wisdom from his father, Joel, who was deep into modifying Subarus as far back as 1978, when nearly no one in the lower 48 owned one. By the time Joseph and his older brother, John, started to drive and race Subarus, the Cox family had a frequent need for performance parts.
"We had some help from a local import shop, but it didn't pan out. They could show me pictures and translate the Japanese catalogs," said Joseph. "But we couldn't order parts at reasonable prices. When I couldn't find the parts I wanted for my '93 Impreza Sedan, I decided to make them and that led to the creation of JC Sports."
Engineering runs deep in the family. Joel Cox had raced Subarus in Pro Rally, Solo, street, off road and modified classes since the late '70s. Those years of competition had compelled him to build many of the high-performance parts he needed in order to win. Among many smaller items, Joel had home-built a large collection of turbo kits, bumpers and suspension parts. John Cox carried the tradition forward by competing in SCCA Solo and Street classes, off-road and the occasional drag race.
Joseph told us about the family approach to competition. "My brother built several competitive Subarus, starting with every combination of lowered, then lifted Brat chassis. He really outdid himself with a modified RX Loyale that was powered by a Legacy drivetrain. Between my father and brother, they know every Subaru part substitution or interchange that might be important for better performance. That's a real asset to our company."
Joseph has been involved in Subaru cars since turning 16. His first car was a 1978 wagon that the trio lowered and paneled. With an extensive background in welding, fabrication, drafting and engineering, Joseph concentrated on new product development and fabrication of prototypes. His first efforts in this direction began with lift kits-ranging upwards of 10 inches-for Brats. His fascination for the work then turned to the Impreza. He has never looked back.
"I had seen what was available in Japan and what could be done to the Hondas and I wanted it all. That was my motivation for forming the company in 1995," explained Joseph.
"My father's expertise in Subaru modification is an invaluable resource. We do a lot of research and development work on our new parts. In addition to the normal durability testing-thousands of miles of actual driving time-there's my brother; John, who drives so aggressively, we figure if he can't break it, it must be ready for production."
Today, there are more Subarus sold in Colorado than in all the other states combined, which puts JC Sports right in the middle of the action. Its customer list includes domestic enthusiasts from coast to coast, but word-of-mouth advertising has also built an amazingly loyal Canadian customer base for the Northglen, Colo. firm.
JC Sports' general manager Kevin Price explained the company's comprehensive approach to vehicle modification. "We specialize in drivetrain and induction improvements for Subarus, but we're really a bumper-to-bumper facility. By that, I mean we can take a customer car from stock to near-Pro Rally shape using parts we have in stock. Not many other tuners can say that."
Indeed. JC Sports is the national distributor for N1 Performance parts for Subarus, including aftermarket competition cylinder heads and valvetrain components, fuel injection system upgrades, clutches, shifters, brake components and bodywork. Need a lightweight hood? Would you like aluminum or carbon fiber? Both are in stock. Same for turbocharger and intercooler kits, cool-air intake systems, exhaust components and an extensive line of dress-up parts.
The company is currently one of the largest Subaru-only performance parts manufacturers in the country, supplying components to tuners everywhere and offering complete installation and services at the fully equipped shop.
Despite its local success, Joseph told us it is essentially an Internet company; walk-in business is only about a quarter of overall sales volume. Nevertheless, to keep up with demand, the company is currently associated with three welding vendors, a tube bending company, a plating company, a powdercoating company and four machine shops. On the other hand, many of the machining and welding operations are being moved in-house to reduce costs to the customer and to limit the potential for back-orders. In addition, JC Sports is aggressively seeking distributors to expand the company's market share at the same time cars such as the WRX are increasing the visibility of Subaru in the United States.
In fact, business is good enough so that performance modifications are now performed separately from normal maintenance and service, which is done in a new facility called the Subaru Performance Center, owned and operated by JC Sports Inc.
Price explained the concept of the new enterprise by stressing the importance of obtaining factory trained service and OEM parts to avoid warranty conflicts with Subaru. "We're doing this in an effort to provide our customers with the ability to have their cars serviced by a specialized Subaru technician without getting all the hassle from the dealer about warranty issues. We will be using only genuine Subaru replacement parts and we will cover all repairs with a full warranty. We will also have a special hourly rate that differs from the JC Sports' shop rate. Our intention is that all services performed by Subaru Performance Center will satisfy dealer and OEM requirements."
The Subaru Performance Center is now open for regular maintenance and service on 1990 and newer Subaru WRX, Impreza, Legacy, Forester and SVX. Appointments are required. The special shop rate Price mentioned is currently $60 an hour on weekdays. However, since everyone knows cars are more likely to need service or parts on weekends, the center will schedule appointments for after-hours and weekends, too.