Levy Auto Parts

[Bob Phillips]

Hi David, I think its safe to say that Levy Auto parts were first and foremost surplus dealers who would buy, sell and trade anything that turned a profit. They had connections with a couple of major surplus yards in the US and a yard in the UK. While at one time they had tons of #19 and related radio parts, their bread and butter business was vehicles, both military and commercial. I remember one of the old timers there telling they always made a handsome profit when one of their insured buildings burned down, which several did over the years. I dont recall any quantity of exotic radio gear around the place, but there was every kind of surplus material you could think of. I remember two long rows of CMP variant axles piled 10 feet high. Boxes and boxes of transfer cases for CMP, DiaT, Fox armoured cars, Dodges, jeeps etc. At one corner of the yard was a pallet stacked high with 105mm breechrings. I toyed with the idea of hauling them all home (for 3x scrap price) to build a patio or some such thing, but it never came to pass. Platform 62 was littered with hundreds of used magnetos for the W670 radial engine. I picked up 25 and later regretted not picking up a whole lot more. It was quite a place. By the way, the axle boxes shown in the photos were the basis for the storage platforms, later roofed over and by the time I saw the place crawling with wildlife.