Chirco History

Joe Chirco has been a Volkswagen fan since his early teens. While still in high school, Joe started selling VW parts at weekend swap meets in Tucson, Arizona as early as 1979.

In his spare time he would drive to Los Angeles and meet with parts vendors, purchase parts, and return home to pass on the great deals to local VW addicts.

In 1984 his business had grown to the point where a work location and warehousing was needed. Thus the birth of Chirco Automotive, Inc., which includes a 6 bay Service Department at 9101 East 22nd Street in Tucson.

Since then, Chirco Automotive has relied heavily on walk-in trade. Business boomed when Chirco began advertising in 1990 through several national VW and Offroad related magazines. The birth of the Chirco mail order department was celebrated as a result of well designed display ads and great deals, making the name Chirco nationally known.

In early 1998 Chirco launched its first website, www.chirco.com. While only listing a minimum of Chirco’s inventory, the website has attracted parts buyers and VW owners from around the globe….. even the motherland, Germany. Chirco is now known worldwide as a shipper of quality Performance, Restoration, and Custom parts for VWs, Buggies, and Sandrails. With the aid of “in house” UPS shipping, Chirco has become a stream-lined and customer oriented organization with the most efficient shipping system available for speedy deliveries. A far cry from the good ole days at the swap meet.

Over the years Joe has not only offered the best that VW parts vendors have to offer, but he’s also developed a large private label of manufactured products for you to choose from.

Joe’s commitment to you is to provide the best selection of top-quality products from major suppliers such as EMPI products, Latest Rage parts and accessories, VDO Gauges, CNC Pedals, Engle racing cams, Scat VW racing products, as well as directly imported VW parts from around the world at the most competitive prices with the best possible customer service. Our staff is committed to serving you Monday through Saturday to help answer that hard-to-answer question or to place an order for the parts you need.

Contacting us is easy – Just call us at our toll free number:

800-955-9795 6 days a week.

Monday through Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm, Saturday 8:00am to 3:00pm (Arizona time)

Owner of Chirco Performance and Restoration

Joe Chirco

Owner of Chirco Performance and RestorationJoe got his start selling Baja parts at local swap meets in the 70’s and has since grown Chirco Performance and Restoration into a bustling global aftermarket VW, dune buggy parts, and accessories business. Joe proudly contributes his business savvy and expertise to his father. You’ll find Joe sitting in his office working intently with a Starbucks in hand. He also enjoys working at the front counter helping customers, on the phone answering questions for our mail order customers, in the service center working on cars, or out at the dunes having fun. Most recently, he added a Yamaha 200 to his off-road collection and has been enjoying going outriding with his son and the rest of the gang.

Santo (Sandy) Chirco

Santo (Sandy) Chirco


Sandy Chirco is the man Joe gets his inspiration and motivation from. It was Sandy who introduced Joe to the auto parts market. Sandy is known throughout the United States and around the globe for servicing Packard owners’ parts needs. Not only is he a blast to have around, he’s always good for a laugh, and definitely a pleasure to work with. You can find Sandy roaming the back aisles of Chirco working with his antique parts, and lending his expertise and insight to Chirco customers and employees alike.

See Sandy’s web site at  Packard Parts Online!!

Address:Chirco – 9101 E. 22nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85710

Telephone:520-722-1984800-955-9795

Email: joe@chirco.com

Store Hours:Mon – Fri: 8 AM – 6 PMSat: 8 AM – 3 PM


Chirco Performance Automotive