Transformed a small auto parts distributing company into the world-renowned Genuine Parts Company

Played a key role in the development of the National Automotive Parts Association, serving as president from 1939 through 1941

Carlyle Fraser once attributed his success to being born under a lucky star…but admirers believed that it was hard work that set Fraser’s star on the rise. In 1928, Fraser and his business partner bought a small auto parts business for $40,000 and renamed it the Genuine Parts Company. Starting with gross sales of $75,000, Fraser developed the company into the largest auto parts distribution business in the world, generating $82 million in sales by 1961. In 1961 he received the Saturday Evening Post’s first Automotive Service Industry Award “…in recognition of his far-sighted leadership and outstanding service to the automotive service industry, his community and his fellow citizens.”