Edelbrock

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Edelbrock Corporation
Type Private company
Founded Beverly Hills, California, USA (1938)
Headquarters Torrance, California
Key people Victor Edelbrock, Sr., Founder (1934-1962)
Victor Edelbrock, Jr., CEO & President(1962-present)
Industry Automotive aftermarket
Revenue ▲ $125.98 million USD (2004)[1]
Net income ▲ $3.49 millions USD (2004)[1]
Employees 722 (2004)[1]
Website www.edelbrock.com
Edelbrock's Corporate Headquarters in Torrance, California
Edelbrock's Corporate Headquarters in Torrance, California

Edelbrock Corporation is a specialty performance automotive and motorcycle aftermarket parts manufacturer. The company has five locations: its headquarters and three more locations in Torrance, California, including a distribution center and museum, and its foundry in San Jacinto, California.

Contents

[edit] Product line

Edelbrock produces aftermarket parts for automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, and boats for many makes of vehicles including Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Acura, AMC, Buick, Dodge, Eagle, GMC, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Jeep, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Rover. For motorcycles and ATVs, Russell (acquired in 2000) manufactures parts for Bombardier, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Polaris, Suzuki and Yamaha. Additionally, Edelbrock also sells Speed Bleeders, for bleeding brake lines for BMW, Fiat, Infiniti, Isuzu, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Merkur, Mitsubishi, Nissan/Datsun, Porsche, Saab, Sterling, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen. Edelbrock also manufactures brake lines for Hummer, Lexus, Mini Cooper, and Plymouth.[2]

[edit] Products

Products: air cleaners, air-fuel meters, camshafts, carburetors, clothing, coil springs, crate engines, crossmembers, cylinder heads, data acquisition, electronic fuel injection, exhaust manifolds, exhaust systems, fuel filters, fuel pumps, gaskets, gear drives, intake manifolds, lifter kits, mufflers, nitrous, panhard rods, pistons, planograms, power packages, pushrods, shock absorbers, solenoids, springs, strut tower braces, superchargers, suspension components, switches, throttle bodies, tie rod sleeves, timing chains, trailing arms, turbochargers, valves, and valve covers.[2]

Russell products: brake fluid, brake lines, brake rotors, bungs, cushion clamps, ferrules, fittings, fuel lines, hoses, o-rings, pressure gauges, speed bleeders, and washers.[2]

[edit] The beginning

Vic Sr. was born in a small farming community near Wichita, Kansas in 1913. After the family grocery store burned down in 1927, Vic left school at the age of 14 to help support the family by working as an auto mechanic.[3] When the Great Depression hit in 1931, Vic Edelbrock went to California to live with his brother. In California he met his wife, Katie, whom he married in 1933. He then teamed up with his new brother-in-law to open his first Automobile repair shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Business flourished and in 1934 Vic moved into his own shop on the corner of Venice Blvd and Hoover in Los Angeles.[4] Business continued to grow rapidly and he moved his shop 3 more times in the 1930s.[5] In 1936, Vic and Katie gave birth to Vic Jr., their only child.

[edit] The Slingshot

Edelbrock's first commercial product: The Slingshot manifold
Edelbrock's first commercial product: The Slingshot manifold

In 1938 Vic bought his first project car, a 1932 Ford Roadster.[6] Vic joined with Tommy Thickston to design a new intake manifold for the roadster's flathead engine. Uphappy with the performance of that, Vic designed his own manifold, nicknamed The Slingshot.[7] Most notably, the new manifold allowed two carburetors to be used, eliminating a bottleneck which limited horsepower for the engine. The manifold was tested for quality at the Rosamond dry lakes and achieved a national speed record in the flying quarter mile on 16 November 1941.[8] After stripping off the fenders and hubcaps, Vic drove it in 7.41 seconds at a speed of 121.45 MPH.[9] Originally, Vic had no intention of producing any additional manifolds, but the overwhelming response following his phenomenal speed in a 1932 Ford prompted Vic to make more. This was the first product commercially sold by Vic Edelbrock and marked the beginning of the company as it is known today. Edelbrock manufactured 100 of the Slingshot manifolds.[4]

[edit] The early years

1946 Catalog
1946 Catalog

During World War II, Vic's machinist skills were put to work welding in the Long Beach shipyards and hand fabricating aircraft parts. Due to a ban on auto racing from the Office of Defense Transportation, there was no racing during the war, but Vic secretly designed and developed a new line of products.[4] After the war, Victor Edelbrock, Sr., produced aluminum racing cylinder heads, in addition to manifolds, which quickly gained him notability among hot rodding hobbyists. To deal with the enormous amount of mail he was receiving, Vic created the company's first catalog, entitled 'Edelbrock Power and Speed Equipment' in 1946 with the help of Pete Petersen. This quickly hastened the transformation of the Edelbrock company from a repair garage into a performance parts manufacturer. Then, in 1947, Edelbrock produced the first cylinder heads for the Ford flathead.

One of the very first companies to use an engine dynamometer, Edelbrock moved to a 5000 sq. ft. "purpose-built" shop in 1949 to develop more manifolds, cylinder heads and racing pistons. In the early 1950s, Edelbrock continued to dominate the dry lakes and expanded racing to the Bonneville Speedway.[4]

[edit] Racing fame

After the war, the CRA (California Roadster Association) was formed to run oval races with dual-purpose roadsters that could run lakes or track. It transformed through the years into what we know today as sprint cars.[10] In 1946, Edelbrock entered racing history in the field of midget car racing. Edelbrock's team toured the dirt track racing circuit of Southern California with Bobby Meeks tuning the cars and drivers such as Walt Faulkner, Perry Grimm, Cal Niday, Danny Oakes, Harry Stockman, Bill Vukovich, Rodger Ward and Bill Zaring.[11] Using a Kurtis Kraft V8-60 midget car powered by a secret blend of 20% nitromethane (disguised with the scent of orange oil),[8] Ward made history on August 10, 1950, when Edelbrock's -powered #27 car broke the winning streak of the Offenhauser-equipped midget cars at the famed midget car racing venue Gilmore Stadium.[12] This was the only V8-60 to ever beat the Offys in the entire Gilmore 386-Race history.[13] Then the same car raced at the Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino the following night and beat the Offenhauser cars again.[14] This feat was never duplicated in the history of midget racing.[15] Edelbrock wasn’t the only racer in the period to be experimenting with nitromethane; Joaquin Arnett and Tony Capanna were fooling around with it in their hot rods, as well. Edelbrock, however, is generally considered to be the man who pulled it all together and made it work.[16] Vic Edelbrock was elected to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2005.[12]

[edit] Chevrolet small-block engine

Up until 1955, Edelbrock only made parts for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln.[7] Few things affected the company (as well as the development of hot rod market) more than the development of the Gen I Chevrolet Small-Block engine in 1955. Its simple compact design launched a generation of innovations that stood the test of time.

Chevrolet delivered three 3 Gen I engines to Edelbrock for experimentation:

  • An Engine to test on their dynomometer
  • An engine for boat racing was prepared for boat builder Henry Lauterback and immediately set 2 world records in Miami, Florida [4]
  • An engine to test multi-carb manifolds for magazine articles

A critical turning point in the company's history was the 1964 decision to build a small-block Chevy intake manifold for a 4-barrel carburetor. The C-4B manifold was developed with help from Bob Joehnck and opening the door to a whole new line of performance products. Competing with the factory was a risky proposition, but it turned out to be a beneficial one, as it launched the company into fast-forward.[17]

[edit] Growth

Victor Edelbrock, Sr., died in 1962, and was succeeded by his son Victor Edelbrock, Jr., as President and Chief Executive Officer. Vic Jr. still presides as President of Edelbrock today (2008).[18]

Edelbrock joined SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) as a charter member in the 1960s, with Vic Jr. serving as president from 1971 to 1974. Vic was elected in a crucial time in the history of SEMA; Congress enacted the Clean Air Act in 1971 and established the Environmental Protection Agency, which targeted the air pollution caused by internal combustion enginess.[4]

In 1987, Edelbrock moved its facilities to its current location in Torrance, California, where it resides today. The five building corporate facility occupies over 400,000 square feet.[6]

In 1990, Edelbrock built a new sand-cast aluminum foundry in San Jacinto, The 73,000 square foot facility employed 75-100 workers and gave the company the ability to increase production according to market demands.[19]

Russell logo
Russell logo

In 2000, Russell Performance Plumbing, a company that manufactures fittings and hoses, was acquired by Edelbrock. The old company in Florida was relocated to Torrance by 2001.

According to the 2004 Edelbrock annual report, as of June 30 the company employed 722 persons, and achieved revenues of $125.98 million USD.[1] Since the company went private again, revenue findings have not been available to the general public.

[edit] Sponsorship

The Edelbrock sticker on a NASCAR racecar
The Edelbrock sticker on a NASCAR racecar

Edelbrock does not sponsor a NASCAR team directly, but instead has access to advertising through a deal with NASCAR by which the Edelbrock contingency sticker is placed on every NASCAR race car. Contingency is a common form of 'after the fact' sponsorship whereby racers place stickers on their vehicles from companies that post monetary awards to racing teams for winning, in exchange for the visibility and the right to use images of the driver and their car in promotional literature and advertising. Similarly, Edelbrock posts contingency awards to drag racers as well, including classes of racers who engage in racing as a hobby.

Since 2002, Edelbrock has been the title sponsor of the PRO Edelbrock Drag Racing Series, which features both professional and sportsman racing classes. The racing series features 7 classes of heads-up style racing and 3 classes of index style racing.[20]

[edit] Timeline

  • 1913 - Vic Sr. is born
  • 1927 - Family grocery store burns down
  • 1931 - Vic Edelbrock moves to California
  • 1933 - Vic marries Katie / Vic opens his first repair shop on Wilshire Blvd.
  • 1934 - Gilmore Stadium is built
  • 1936 - Vic Edelbrock, Jr. is born
  • 1938 - Vic buys a 1932 Ford Roadster and designs the first Edelbrock product: the Slingshot manifold
  • 1941 - Sept 28 - Vic Edelbrock, Sr. sets land speed record in a V8 roadster
  • 1941-45 - Vic contributes to the WWII war effort by fabricating parts in the Long Beach shipyard
  • 1945 - Vic designs his first aluminum racing cylinder heads for flathead Fords
  • 1946 - First Edelbrock catalog published
  • 1950 - Edelbrock moves to its first purpose-built shop on Jefferson Blvd.
  • 1952 - The first streamliner to go over 200mph is the Edelbrock-equipped Bachelor-Xydias SoCal Special[21]
  • 1958 - Vic Jr. Graduates USC / Edelbrock is the first to achieve one horsepower per cubic inch
  • 1959 - Vic Jr. marries Nancy Crook[8]
  • 1962 - Vic Edelbrock, Sr. dies of cancer at the age of 49
  • 1966 - Edelbrock builds a race boat for astronauts Gus Grissom and Gordon Cooper
  • 1968 - Edelbrock moves to El Segundo, California
  • 1971-74 - Vic Edelbrock, Jr. serves as president of SEMA
  • 1975 - Car Craft names Edelbrock as "Manufacturer of the Year"[15]
  • 1987 - Edelbrock Moves to Torrance, California
  • 1990 - Sand cast aluminum foundry is built in San Jacinto, California
  • 1994 - Edelbrock goes public[1]
  • 1995 - Begins manufacturing Harley-Davidson motorcycle products
  • 1998 - Edelbrock Corporate (including shock & exhaust) receives QS-9000 and ISO 9001:1994 certification
  • 1999 - New distribution center opens, including Vic's Garage, a museum of his cars
  • 2000 - Edelbrock acquires Russell Performance Plumbing
  • 2001 - QS-9000 and ISO 9001:1994 certification is extended to the distribution center
  • 2002 - QS-9000 and ISO 9001:1994 certification is extended to the Russell division
  • 2003 - Vic Edelbrock Sr.'s historic original 1932 Ford Roadster is acquired and restored.
  • 2004 - Edelbrock goes private
  • 2005 - ISO 9001:2000 certification is achieved by all Edelbrock divisions and replaces the previous certifications of QS-9000 and ISO 9001:1994
  • 2007 - The Edelbrock foundry begins construction of a new permanent mold facility

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ a b c d e SEC listing
  2. ^ a b c 2008 Edelbrock automotive catalog
  3. ^ History at Edelbrock's official website
  4. ^ a b c d e f Madigan, Tom. Edelbrock: Made in USA, Tehabi Books, 2005.
  5. ^ Edelbrock Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Edelbrock Corporation. www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
  6. ^ a b Corvette Fever periodical, Retrieved June 26, 2007
  7. ^ a b Historic Route 66 article, Retrieved March 18, 2008
  8. ^ a b c Almquist, Ed. "Hot Rod Pioneers, The Creators of the Fastest Sport on Wheels", Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., 2000.
  9. ^ All Chevy Magazine article, August 1988, Michael Lufty
  10. ^ Storer, Jay. Speed Equipment History - Street Rodder Magazine. www.streetrodderweb.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
  11. ^ Circle Track magazine article, December 1989, Tom Madigan
  12. ^ a b Biography of Vic Edelbrock at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
  13. ^ Circle Track magazine article, January 1990
  14. ^ Rodger Ward article
  15. ^ a b McFarland, Jim. "The Great Manifold Bolt-On!", Edelbrock Corporation, 1982.
  16. ^ DragTimes.com article on nitromethane
  17. ^ Berggren, Dick, Stock Car Racing article, March, 1998
  18. ^ "Vic Edelbrock Jr. To Be Honored", Street Rodder magazine, Retrieved June 26, 2007
  19. ^ SEMA News, 1990.
  20. ^ Popular Hot Rodding article
  21. ^ [|Oilstick.com NHRA museum article]Groak, Bill, 2004.

[edit] External links