A&A Midwest is celebrating its 70th anniversary throughout 2019. Started by Aaron and Alex Stolberg in 1949 from very humble beginnings, today, A&A is an industry leader in engine and transmission core supply as well as OEM-type replacement parts and automotive recycling. 

A&A started out with a narrow focus of selling engines to engine  remanufacturers. That served the company well for its first 35 years. In 1985, with the next generation joining the company A&A looked to expand. 

First was transmissions –  a natural with the company’s existing engine business. A&A Midwest said its goal was to be the most knowledgeable and have the most variety of inventory in the engine business. Today, A&A Midwest has more than 25,000 transmissions in inventory. We handle torque converters, transfer cases as well as manual and automatic transmissions.

In 1987, the company started to receive requests for items they either could not find or the ones available had very high fall-out rates. This led A&A to establish the EngineQuest (EQ) division. Today, EngineQuest has more than 500 line-items for sale – from head bolts and cylinder heads, to timing covers and much more. In today’s cost- and quality-conscious world, EQ has set itself apart from others. Parts are made in many countries. However, direct contact with the factories, and stringent quality standards and inspection guarantee a quality product at a reasonable cost, the company says.

Around this same time, A&A realized that converting cores was a way to expand sales. In some cases, it was drilling and tapping additional holes to expand the application coverage; or converting non A.I.R. heads to A.I.R. or adding a mechanical fuel pump to an EFI block. Today A&A’s machine shop still converts cores to help keep the company’s order fill at its maximum. The company also has parts available that otherwise would not be available.

In the early 2000’s A&A began buying whole vehicles. The need was two-fold: first was to get more of the cores its customers desire. Second A&A had developed an export market for complete cut-out engines. This further diversified the company’s sales and opened markets for items it otherwise could not sell. Today, A&A processes almost 2,000 end of life vehicles annually.

A&A was always a large scrap metal generator from its engine and transmission processing. In order to maximize revenue by filling trucks to the maximum we began buying and selling automotive scrap. This was a natural fit as we are already in the wrecking yards buying their engines and transmissions. Specializing in automotive and non-ferrous scrap A&A today processes and ships more than 20 million pounds of scrap annually.

A&A will continue to grow and look for expansion opportunities in the automotive and related industries. The company’s fully automated inventory and order processing system has helped get orders out sooner and more accurately. Through constant improvement A&A Midwest says it is situated to continue to prosper for many years to come.