Standard Motor Products, Inc.
Founders
Elias Fife, Ralph Van Allen · Founded 1919 · HQ today: Long Island City, New York
Standard Motor Products was founded by Elias Fife, Ralph Van Allen in 1919. It is now led by Eric Sills.
Elias Fife and Ralph Van Allen founded Standard Motor Products in New York City in 1919, selling ignition parts as the car population grew. The company stayed independent through the Depression and the decades of auto-industry consolidation that followed, and the Fife and Sills families have remained involved; current Chairman and CEO Eric Sills succeeded his father, Lawrence Sills, as CEO in 2016.
Elias Fife co-founded Standard Motor Products in New York City in 1919 to supply ignition parts to the growing car market.
Elias Fife co-founded Standard Motor Products with Ralph Van Allen in 1919. The company began with ignition parts for the replacement market and grew into one of the longest-running independent US aftermarket suppliers. Elias Fife was born in 1880.
American businessman and auto pioneer.
Ralph Van Allen co-founded Standard Motor Products in 1919 alongside Elias Fife. Recognizing that the exploding popularity of the Ford Model T was creating a massive, highly lucrative demand for reliable replacement parts, he helped establish the early manufacturing and distribution network that would ultimately become an absolute titan of the aftermarket auto industry. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Eric Sills
President and Chief Executive Officer
Under Sills, SMP grew FY2025 net sales to $1.79 billion from $1.46 billion in 2024, with European Aftermarket contributing about 17% of sales after the Nissens acquisition.
Lawrence Sills
CEO
As CEO for 16 years, he guided the family-run empire through absolutely massive technological shifts in automotive electronics, deeply cementing its relationship with major retailers like AutoZone.
Standard Motor Products was founded in 1919 in Long Island City, Queens, New York, by entrepreneur Elias Fife and partner Ralph Van Allen.
Following World War I, mass-market cars like Henry Ford's Model T and early Chevrolet models proliferated across America. However, early electrical ignition systems frequently broke down due to poor metallurgy. The founders recognized a massive commercial need for reliable, high-quality replacement ignition points, distributors, and coils.
The company began in a small rented machine shop in Long Island City, where the founders and a handful of machinists stamped brass electrical contacts, wound copper wire onto coils, and sold packaged parts directly to early automobile service garages and carriage repair shops.
Elias Fife insisted that replacement parts must last longer than original factory equipment. He utilized high-grade tungsten and platinum-tipped alloy contacts that resisted electrical arcing and pitting, establishing the "Standard" name as a hallmark of mechanical integrity.
In the early years of the company, Ralph Van Allen managed sales and distribution partnerships before parting ways with the company, leaving Elias Fife and his growing family to incorporate and expand the manufacturing business.
During the Great Depression, consumers could not afford new vehicles and were forced to repair their aging cars. Elias Fife introduced the heavy-duty "Blue Streak" product line, positioning it as an affordable way to keep family cars running, allowing the company to remain profitable throughout the 1930s.
During World War II, Standard Motor Products turned its manufacturing precision to the Allied war effort, producing heavy-duty ignition components, aircraft electrical switches, and military truck wiring harnesses for the U.S. armed forces.
Nathaniel Sills married into the Fife family and joined the company, working alongside Bernard Fife to expand commercial manufacturing, modernize factories, and establish national distribution networks across the Midwest and West Coast.
Elias Fife passed down three core tenets: 1) Never compromise on product quality; 2) Treat employees with dignity and fairness; and 3) Maintain financial conservatism by avoiding excessive speculative debt—tenets that preserved the company for over a century.
Elias Fife recognized that as cars grew more complex, mechanics needed technical training. He published early repair manuals and wiring schematics that were distributed free to local garages, creating the precursor to today's Standard Pro Training program.
SMP's corporate headquarters remains proudly located at 37-18 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens, New York, maintaining its deep historical connection to its 1919 roots.
The founders helped create the independent American automotive aftermarket, proving that independent mechanics and third-party parts manufacturers could provide drivers with affordable, superior alternatives to car dealership repair monopolies.
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