Over forty years after founding his first speed shop in a two-car garage, George Lane, his wife Janet, and sons Doug and Dave, still adhere to the same day-to-day business principles upon which Lane Automotive was founded. Top quality performance parts and accessories, prompt, courteous service, and fair pricing were important in 1964 and they still constitute business as usual for the Lane family.

George has been actively involved in just about every facet of performance motorsports. A hot rodder all his life, George initially took the step up from street involvement to drag racing in the late 1950’s, building and racing a series of front engine dragsters. His racing tapered off as his speed shop business, initially a part time venture, prospered and grew. No matter how busy he got, George continued to remain faithful to his hot rodding roots. Highlights in his long and distinguished career include inductions into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame and the Michiana Vintage Racers Hall of Fame.

Doug and Dave each have over 30 years invested in Lane Automotive, literally growing up in the business. Doug, a former racer himself, oversees the company’s sales and marketing and its involvement as a points program sponsor at several Midwest tracks. He is also the crew chief for both of his sons’ racing go-karts. Dave Lane, who manages the warehouse and shipping departments at Motor State, has nurtured a lifelong love of high performance muscle cars and among his collection are a Shelby GT500KR and a 396/375 horse ‘69 Chevy Camaro.

Our 153,000 square foot complex has over 100,000 square feet devoted entirely to warehouse functions which include receiving, stocking, packing and shipping. Nearly 22 linear miles of shelving provide adequate space to take maximum advantage of volume purchases, saving us money and allowing us to pass these savings on to our customers.

Most of our customers know Motor State best through their phone contact with our sales office personnel. Headed by the Sales Manager, our Sales Team routinely handles thousands of calls every day from customers all over the world. Fast, friendly, efficient and knowledgeable, many members of our sales staff are rodders and racers themselves and they can quickly and capably answer technical questions and make recommendations on specialized parts. They are in touch with your needs. Each time a Motor State Sales Team member answers your call, a great customer service experience begins.

Motor State Distributing strives to keep an excellent inventory on hand at all times so that we may process and fill orders as soon as they are received. Careful planning and hard work has allowed us to maintain a very high fill rate on all popular stocking numbers, year after year. We take great pride in our fill rate, and in the fact that we still manage to ship the majority of our orders the same day they are received.

A definite focal point of our new complex is the 10,000 square foot showroom dedicated to fulfilling the needs of the walk-in customer who needs high performance parts and accessories and a professional , one-on-one source of hot rodding advice. Staffed by counter personnel who possess a high degree of knowledge in their specialized areas, the new showroom is much more than a retail outlet; it also serves the very important function of demonstrating to our warehouse customers the importance of visual presentation in the process of selling high performance parts in any retail setting, whether it’s 1,000 or 10,000 square feet.

In the days before the founding of Motor State Distributing, George Lane’s life was no different than that of any other “weekend warrior” drag racer. He worked at a traditional job every weekday, going home at the end of a long day to have dinner with his young family. After dinner, he went to the garage and worked on his race car in preparation for a weekend of racing. He was on a tight racing budget, and the best prices on racing parts were from mail order houses on the West Coast. A need for any new parts meant at least a two week wait while they were shipped. Eventually, George located a source of reasonably priced parts closer to home, in Detroit. A six hour round trip to Detroit and back was much better than a two week wait. Word of his parts runs to Detroit got around, and soon George was bringing parts back, stocking his garage, and reselling to many of his racer friends.

By the early 1960’s, George’s tiny garage had evolved into a successful part-time speed shop, necessitating a move to a larger building. The evenings and weekends he used to spend on the race car were now consumed by the burgeoning parts business. He still had his full-time job as a graphic artist, but it was starting to look like he could support himself and his family with the speed shop.  He had mixed feelings. Leaving the security of a full-time job and going into business for himself was a big step. After careful consideration, George made that step in 1968; never once looking back. Any doubts George might have had were soon put aside. The business not only prospered, but had to move into an even larger, newly constructed building just one year later.

While George was making the transition to full-time speed merchant, many of the larger West Coast equipment manufacturers were looking for reliable wholesale dealers to distribute their products “East of the Rockies.” Lane Automotive was just the type of business they were looking for, and soon George was buying in large volume, directly from the manufacturers. He was no longer just a retail supplier, but a wholesale warehouse as well.

In 1970, Motor State Distributing was officially founded as the warehouse distribution division of Lane Automotive, selling high performance parts to speed shops throughout the Midwest. Motor State grew steadily during the next decade, and as the business grew, so did the number of employees - and the number of additions to the building. By 1985 it had become apparent that a new, larger and more modern building would need to be constructed. Preliminary planning was begun, and designs were developed for a 54,000 square-foot distribution facility. The building became a reality, opening in 1988.

That new building established Motor State Distributing as a viable performance parts warehouse. The original sales force quickly doubled, then tripled in size. The customer base became international in scope, with parts being shipped to all 50 states, Canada, and several overseas accounts. The next ten years at Motor State were characterized by phenomenal growth - growth that eventually rendered the relatively new building obsolete. Planning got underway for an all-new, super-size warehouse/office complex. Property was purchased, an architectural firm and a contractor were hired, and ground was broken in June, 1998 for the new, 153,000 square-foot home of Motor State Distributing. A little over a year later, during the first week of September, 1999, the first packages were shipped from the new building.

Currently, Motor State’s work force works three shifts daily, fulfilling the high performance needs of hot rodders world-wide.

Motorstate contact information:
Motor State Distributing®
8300 Lane Drive
Watervliet, MI 49098
Toll Free 1-800-772-2678
Local 269-463-4113
Fax 1-800-772-2618
Email