| Switzer Performance R35 GT-R |
I’ve been around the GT-R world a long time, around the R35 GT-R world since before the beginning of it. When I worked at STILLEN, one of my customers was Switzer Performance. I sold them parts and things for R35 GT-R. I also dealt with AMS Performance, selling them parts. The two shops battled in the beginning for dominance on the dragstrip. Building cars for customers. Switzer in Ohio, AMS in Illinois. I liked both shops, I had friends at both places. Tym, the owner of Switzer has had a rough time recently, he wife has cancer, and that plus running the shop is overwhelming for anyone. Martin, the owner of AMS has hired Tym to work for AMS. Extremely stand up thing for AMS to do. I would be lying if I didn’t say it brought a tear to my eye. Good luck to Tym, good luck to AMS.
Tym has written a fantastic summary of his experience over the years within the industry as the head of Switzer Performance, and he touches on his reasoning for closing that chapter of his life and opening a new one here at AMS. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Tym to the AMS Performance team and all that he brings to our organization.
Of those nearly 30 years, the last seventeen years have seen me continue to work diligently to continue operating Switzer Performance in rural Ohio. Quite the challenge given the growth of our industry with young, competent and hungry car builders continuously popping up showing what they can do. Knowing the time to pass the torch on certain things in life isn’t always easy, but sometimes life itself pushes you into new directions.
It is no secret that for many years AMS was my single greatest competitor. With an organization built around a quest for properly engineered performance solutions, they continuously pushed me to find the best of myself and my organization to compete. By continuously pushing the boundaries of performance potential across multiple vehicle platforms, I must admit at this point that not only was AMS my greatest foe… I had a great deal of admiration for their efforts. Nothing like getting your ass kicked in from time to time to keep you humble and respectful.
The last 2 years have been extremely rough for my family and I as you might expect. Recently, after reaching out to me to see if my family and I needed anything, Martin Musial (principal owner and founder of AMS) recently invited me to take a walk into Switzer Performance’s previous ‘enemy territory’ and have a look at the inner workings of AMS. “Why not?”, I thought to myself … “I’ve heard rumors the Dark Side has cookies.” So, I accepted the invitation for a tour as well as a conversation about what the future might hold for me having made the commitment to shut down my shop in Ohio.
After walking through the door and requesting to see Martin for my appointment, I was asked my name to which I politely replied. Eyeballs slowly and curiously rose over computer monitors and after a moment of perplexed silence a very warm welcome made me feel at home and instantly at ease with everyone. Not that I expected to be mauled, but you never know… competition is competition. Sometimes you want to ‘sweep the leg’. In all seriousness, however, I was eager to get a look into what had made them such a competitive force. I was soon to find out. Martin grabbed a coffee and offered me the grand tour with other heads of management, and so we went.
The more we chatted and exchanged ideas, history, stories, and a lot of good laughs… the more excited we all seemed to get. The possibility of me joining the AMS team would let me continue to contribute to the industry I was a part of bringing to life over the last 3 decades and allow me to continue to help customers reach their performance goals by providing the insight and expertise my long tenure could provide. The possibilities seemed compelling, the environment exhilarating, and the conditions perfect to make my decision a no brainer.
All the best,
Tym Switzer





























