Ben Nieto's 2002 GMC Sierra has all the aftermarket parts needed to make his ride turn heads. Three television screens occupy the dash and the head rests. Twenty-inch chrome wheels sparkle in contrast to his midnight-blue paint job.

But his most important modification is the 4-foot canister of nitrogen, which powers his air-bag suspension, that rests in the truck bed.

"It won't explode, you could drop it off a 5-story building and it wouldn't burst," said the Hanford resident.

Car and truck enthusiasts like Nieto throughout the Central Valley and the United States have turned the specialty auto parts industry, called a dying market 15 years ago by some analysts, into a $34-billion-a-year business, according to Specialty Equipment Market Association, a trade association that represents companies who make automobile performance and styling parts. Growth in specific enthusiast niches, most notably compact-performance cars and light trucks, have turned the custom parts business into a thriving industry.

These are not car parts required to run. These are car parts required to run faster, lower, louder and flashier.

Almost 200 Hanford and Lemoore residents have Web pages devoted to their custom rides on cardomain.com, an enthusiast Web site with more than 500,000 members. Also, more than 10 shops in Hanford alone devote a portion of their business to automobile performance, styling or audio systems.

One reason for the upturn in the industry pertains to a surge in popularity 10 years ago in compact-performance, or sport-compact cars, which includes Japanese automakers like Honda and Mitsubishi, along with newer small-model cars by American manufacturers, like the Dodge SRT-4.

Peter MacGillivray, vice-president of marketing and communications for SEMA, the specialty parts marketing association based in Diamond Bar, said before the sport-compact niche started to flourish, some people were worried about a "graying of the industry," as the original hot-rodders got older.

"With a demographic between 16 and 24 years old, it's become the single largest consumer bubble in the industry," he said. "We quickly realized they were tuned into personalization: personalized cell phones, personalized music and automobiles. In this case it happened to be their mom's handed-down Honda Civic."

In a recent study by SEMA on the compact performance niche, 56 percent of those people surveyed said they would spend more than $2,500 on modifications, and 13 percent said they would spend more than $10,000.

Kelly Rodriguez, a 22-year-old Hanford resident with one year left in the Navy, owns a silver 2003 Dodge SRT-4. A car that looks like a beefy Neon to the untrained eye, Rodriguez said he's tuned the four-cylinder engine to more than 300 horsepower.

The SRT-4 he bought used for $18,000 has seen $7,000 in performance parts installed, including a ported turbo, a bigger intercooler and a new exhaust.

"A pretty big chunk of my paycheck goes to the car," said Rodriguez. "I'm pretty young, I don't have too many bills. The car and the wife, and that's about it."

Kenshi Auto Repair on North 10th Avenue reported that about 25 percent of its business is performance-related, but almost all of those are sport-compact cars.""The Fast and the Furious" came out, and everyone got into it head-on after that," said Jon Waddell, Kenshi's manager, referring to the 2001 film about street racers in Los Angeles. "Our performance business easily doubled after that movie."

Waddell said some of the performance business has slowed compared to a few years ago, as younger enthusiasts with lower aspirations realized they could buy bolt-on parts online, and police cracked down on street racing.

"We're expensive. We do engine builds, engine swaps and turbo kits. Stuff like that's not cheap," he said.

A complete engine swap can be as much as $5,000.

Specialty parts for trucks make up 50 percent of the industry, paralleling the auto industry, where trucks and sport utility vehicles have taken over passenger cars in sales, said MacGillivray.

Vince Cobos of Superior Tires and Suspension opened the shop at 500 East Seventh St. three months ago, and that business is going pretty well.

"I do a lot of lifts, about two a week right now," said Cobos.

He said the average age of his customer looking for custom work varies.

"You'd be surprised, I get guys in here in their 40s," he said. "But most are in their late 20s and early 30s."

Glenn Olson, owner of Olson's Race Engines in Hanford, said his shop does everything performance related from building custom street rods to installing exhausts and air-intake systems.

"We do about two exhausts a week," he said. About 60 percent of the business is performance- or racing-related, he said.

Early roots for souping-up cars can be traced to the 1930s. One of the first surges in popularity came when World War II soldiers with money to spend, and a desire to go fast, returned home with mechanical knowledge from tinkering on military vehicles, said MacGillivray.

"Hot-rodders returning from the war were competing in dry lake beds around Southern California," said MacGillivray. "That was 40 years ago. Today this uniquely American phenomenon is now shared all around the world."

The specialty parts industry differs from how people view the auto industry, typified by big-business automakers like Ford or Toyota.

"Most of our members are small, privately held businesses averaging 60 employees. Our members are enthusiasts in a passion-driven business," said MacGillivray.

This is another unique feature of the industry: these are "passion-purchases," not required to operate the vehicle. Thus it is driven by discretionary dollars.

"As soon as people buy them, they bring them home and show them off."

Nieto said he spent $25,000 for his GMC Sierra, but he's spent more than $14,000 on personalized modifications.

He's not done though. Plans include Lamborghini-style doors, a hood scoop and a new paint job.

"A bagged-truck is never done," said Nieto's friend, Anthony Gonzales. "If they say it's done, they're lying."

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471 ext. 3043.

(May 20, 2007)