parts. The company is headquartered in the Memphis area (specifically Olive Branch, Mississippi), with a Southern California R&D Tech Center located in Cerritos, CA. The Edelbrock Sand Cast and Permanent Mold Manufacturing foundries are located in San Jacinto, CA. Edelbrock has two facilities in North Carolina: the Edelbrock Carburetor Division in Sanford, and the Edelbrock Race Center in Mooresville.
Vic Edelbrock Sr. was born in a small farming community of
As a 22-year-old, Edelbrock teamed up with his new brother-in-law to open his first
hobbyists. Parts to increase an engine's performance were not readily available, so racers built their own. Soon Edelbrock found himself building pieces first for his friends and then for customers.
[12]
To deal with the enormous amount of mail he was receiving by 1946 Edelbrock created the company's first
manufacturer. Then, in 1947, Edelbrock produced the first cylinder heads for the Ford
flathead .
One of the first companies to use an engine dynamometer , Edelbrock moved to a 5,000 sq ft shop in 1949 to develop more manifolds, cylinder heads and racing pistons . In the early 1950s, he continued to dominate the dry lakes and expanded his racing to the Bonneville Speedway .[4]
Racing
After the war, the
The famed No. 27 Edelbrock midget racing car
A major claim to fame for Edelbrock was beating all the
San Bernardino the following night, again beating the Offenhauser cars.
[19] This feat was never duplicated in the history of midget racing.
[12] Edelbrock was not the only racer in that era to experiment with nitromethane; fellow racers Joaquin Arnett and Tony Capanna had tried it in their hot rods, as well. Edelbrock, however, is generally considered to be the one who pulled it all together and made the volatile fuel work.
[20]
Turning points
Edelbrock's best selling product: The Chevy small-block intake manifold
Edelbrock carburetor
Until 1955, Edelbrock made parts only for the
In 1958, Edelbrock managed an industry first by extracting one horsepower per cubic-inch from a 283 cid small-block Chevy that was equipped with his newly designed Cross Ram Manifold. This breakthrough led him to begin producing manifolds for Pontiac and Chrysler engines.[8]
Another critical turning point in the company's history was the 1964 decision to build a four-barrel intake manifold for the small-block Chevrolet. The C-4B manifold, developed with help from Bob Joehnck, opened the door to a new line of performance products. Although competing with the factory was a risky proposition, it turned out to be a beneficial one, as it allowed the company to expand into a new market.[21]
Growth
Edelbrock's corporate headquarters in Torrance, California
In 1962, cancer claimed the life of Victor Edelbrock, Sr. at the age of 49. At the time, the company consisted of ten employees and annual sales were $450,000.Vic Edelbrock, Jr.
[23] Vic Jr., who had graduated with a degree in business from
USC in 1958, became president and chief executive officer, a position he held until 2010.
[24]
The company joined
When gas prices soared in the 1970s, Edelbrock produced its Streetmaster line of intake manifolds that featured improved mileage, as well as performance.[5]
In 1987, Edelbrock moved its facilities to its current location in Torrance, California. The five-building corporate facility occupies over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2 ).[3] In 1990, Edelbrock built a 73,000-square-foot (6,800 m2 ) sand-cast aluminum foundry in San Jacinto, which employed 75 to 100 workers, and gave the company the ability to increase production according to market demands.[25]
In 1994, the Edelbrock corporation went public, selling shares of stock on the
NASDAQ stock exchange. This initially raised $21 million, which was used mainly for construction of a new exhaust division in Torrance near its main facilities.
[26]
Russell logo
In 2000, Russell Performance Plumbing, a company that manufactures fittings and
hoses, was acquired by Edelbrock. The company, which had been based in
Florida , was relocated to Torrance by 2001.
As of June 30, 2004, the company employed 722 persons, and achieved revenues of $125.98 million USD.[2] Since the company went private again in 2004, revenue findings have not been available to the general public.
On June 7, 2010, the Chicago-based private equity firm Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP) acquired Edelbrock Corporation.[27] [28]
In January 2021, the company was announced that its headquarters would be relocated to the Memphis, Tennessee region .[29]
Modern-day racing
The Edelbrock sticker on a NASCAR racecar
The Edelbrock logo is prevalent in NASCAR but the company does not sponsor a racing team. Instead it engages in advertising through a $250,000 per year (2004) contract 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 right to use images of winning drivers and their cars in promotional literature and advertising.
Edelbrock also posts contingency awards for
Drag Racing Series, which features both professional and sportsman racing classes. The racing series includes seven classes of heads-up style racing and three classes of
index style racing .
[30]
In 2021, Edelbrock partnered with Ilmor to build engines for the Superstar Racing Experience . Using the Ilmor 396 as a base, Edelbrock provides components such as the camshaft and ignition coils.[31]
Products
Eighty years after Vic Edelbrock Sr. manufactured the first Flathead Ford intake manifold, the Edelbrock company now designs and manufactures camshaft and lifter kits, carburetors, crate engines, cylinder heads, electronic fuel injection, engine blocks, engine dress-up, fuel pumps, intake manifolds, nitrous oxide injection, power packages, superchargers, top end kits, valvetrain, and water pumps. The company relies on online and catalog resellers along with traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. In 2018, Edelbrock launched a direct-to-consumer e-commerce website.
Timeline
1931 – Edelbrock moves to California
1934 – Edelbrock moves into a shop on Venice and Hoover in Los Angeles
1938 – Edelbrock moves to the Breawood Garage in Los Angeles
1938 – Edelbrock buys a 1932 Ford Roadster and designs the first Edelbrock product, the Slingshot manifold
1941 – Edelbrock sets land speed record in a V8 roadster September 28
1941–45 – Edelbrock contributes to the WWII war effort by fabricating parts in the Long Beach shipyard
1945 – Edelbrock designs his first aluminum racing cylinder heads for flathead Fords
1945 – Vic Sr. purchased first building with machine shop on N. Highland in Hollywood, California
1946 – First Edelbrock catalog published
1948 – Edelbrock purchases a Clayton engine dynamometer[6]
1949 — Edelbrock moves to its first purpose-built shop called Edelbrock Equipment Co. on Jefferson Blvd. in Los Angeles
1951 – The first streamliner powered by a Flathead Ford to go over 200 mph (320 km/h) is the Edelbrock-equipped Bachelor-Xydias So-Cal Special[32]
1958 – Edelbrock is the first to achieve one horsepower per cubic inch[6]
1962 – Vic Edelbrock, Jr. takes control of company when Vic Sr. dies of cancer at age 49
1963 – Edelbrock celebrates 25 Years in business
1968 – Edelbrock moves to El Segundo, California
1971–74 – Vic Edelbrock, Jr.
elected president of SEMA
1973 – Edelbrock becomes a major sponsor of NASCAR
1975 – Car Craft names Edelbrock "Manufacturer of the Year"[12]
1984 – Edelbrock awarded PWA Manufacturer of the Year
1986 – First Cylinder Head was produced
1987 – Edelbrock moves to Torrance, California
1988 – Edelbrock celebrates 50 Years in business
1989 – Edelbrock awarded PWA Manufacturer of the Year
1990 – aluminum
foundry built in San Jacinto, California
1990 – Edelbrock awarded PWA Manufacturer of the Year
1994 – Edelbrock goes public on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
[2] An exhaust division is formed.
1995 – Edelbrock acquires Qwiksilver II and begins manufacturing Harley-Davidson motorcycle products[26] [33]
1997 – Edelbrock opens a state-of-the-art Sand Cast Aluminum Foundry
1999 – New distribution center opens, including Vic's Garage, a museum of Edelbrock's cars
1999 – Forbes names Edelbrock as one of the 200 best small companies[34]
2000 – Forbes names Edelbrock as one of the 200 best small companies for the second year in a row[35]
2000–01 – Edelbrock acquires Russell Performance Plumbing
2004 – Edelbrock returns to being a Private company
2007 – Edelbrock begins construction of a Permanent Mold Aluminum foundry
2008 – Edelbrock awarded PWA Manufacturer of the Year
2010 – Industrial Opportunity Partners strategically invests in the Edelbrock Corporation
2011 – Edelbrock sells its line of suspension components to QA1
2012 – Edelbrock acquires SX Performance
2017 – Vic Edelbrock, Jr. dies at age 80.[36]
2017 – Edelbrock awarded CAN (formerly PWA) Manufacturer of the Year
2018 – Edelbrock celebrates 80 Years in business
2018 – First Edelbrock diesel cylinder head produced
2020 – Edelbrock opens the Edelbrock Race Center in North Carolina that will focus on race-oriented cylinder head machining
2020 – Edelbrock and Competition Cams merge, creating a new platform company owned by Industrial Opportunity Partners[37]
2020 – Edelbrock divests its nitrous oxide category to Nitrous Supply[38]
2021 – The Edelbrock Group is formed, consisting of COMP Cams, Edelbrock, FAST Fuel Air Spark Technology, Russell Performance and TCI Automotive
2021 – Edelbrock corporate headquarters, manufacturing and distribution center move to new 300,000-square-foot facility in metropolitan Memphis (Olive Branch, MS)
2021 – Edelbrock expansion includes new Southern California Tech Center located in Cerritos, CA
2021 – Edelbrock introduces Pro-Flo 4+ EFI Engine Management System
References
^ "F-150 Lightning Named Truck of the Year; Edelbrock Names Chris Douglas President, CEO" . Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) . 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-15 .
^ a b c SEC listing
^ a b c "Inside Edelbrock's Performance Shop and Vic's Garage" . Corvette Fever . Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2009-07-25 .
^ .
^ a b c d Edelbrock Corporation annual report 1999, Edelbrock Corporation, 1999.
^ a b c "History at Edelbrock's official website" . Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-10-28 .
^ "Edelbrock Corporation - Company Profile on Edelbrock Corporation" . www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2008-05-14 .
^ a b c "Edelbrock Corporation: Pride in Performance" . Corvette Fever . Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-03-08 .
^ Canadian Classics & Performance, January 2004
^
^ a b All Chevy Magazine , August 1988, Michael Lufty
^
^ Storer, Jay. "Speed Equipment History" . www.streetrodderweb.com. Retrieved 2008-05-14 .
^ a b Circle Track magazine article, December 1989, Tom Madigan
^ Hotrod & Restoration magazine article, July 2005, Bill Sessa
^ Anderson, Stephen K. "Historical Reunion: Repeating History Through a Car and a Great American Family". American Rodder Magazine , May 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2008
^ a b Biography Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
^ Circle Track Magazine (January 1990).
^ Rodger Ward article
^ [dubious – discuss ] "Nitromethane: Top-Fuel Drag Racing's Soup of Choice" . www.dragtimes.com. Retrieved 2008-04-08 .
^ Dick Berggren. Stock Car Racing article, March, 1998
^ Donnelly, Jim. "Vigor, Virtue, Vision" . Hemmings.com . Retrieved 2009-07-08 .
^ "Vic Edelbrock Jr. To Be Honored" [permanent dead link ] , Street Rodder Magazine , Retrieved June 26, 2007.
^ Vic Bio at Edelbrock website media center Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ SEMA News, 1990.
^ a b FundingUniverse.com article , retrieved 4 August 2008.
^ "About Us" .
^ "Edelbrock IOP press release" . Archived from the original on 2010-06-21. Retrieved 2010-06-18 .
^ "Edelbrock Relocating Main Office to Mississippi" . RacingJuck . February 3, 2021.
^ Sparrow, Scott. "Stand Up For The Start Up - PRO Edelbrock Drag Racing Series" . www.popularhotrodding.com. Retrieved 2009-08-05 .
^ "Ilmor V8s to power SRX cars" . Racer . February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021 .
^ Oilstick.com NHRA museum article Groak, Bill, 2004.
^ answers.com article retrieved 11 December 2008
^ "200 Best Small Companies", Forbes , 1 November 1999.
^ "200 Best Small Companies", Forbes , 1 October 2000.
^ Vaughan, Matthew (June 10, 2017), "Vic Edelbrock Jr., 1936-2017" , Autoweek
^ "Industrial Opportunity Partners | An Operations-Focused Private Investment Firm" . Industrial Opportunity Partners . Retrieved 2020-02-02 .
^ The RacingJunk Editors (2020-02-12). "Nitrous Supply Acquires Edelbrock's Complete Nitrous Line" . RacingJunk News . Archived from the original on 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-18 . CS1 maint: unfit URL (link )
Further reading
"Edelbrock Corp. Reports Record Sales and Earnings for Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Year 2000," Business Wire, September 6, 2000, p. 0054.
Fine, Howard, "Slow But Steady Growth for Auto Parts Firm Edelbrock," Los Angeles Business Journal, February 15, 1999, p. 21.
Glover, Kara, "Sales Zooming for Car-Parts Specialist," Los Angeles Business Journal, July 24, 1995, p. 1.
Schonfeld, Erick, "Erector Sets for Hog and Car Lovers," Fortune, October 30, 1995, p. 227.
External links