Many aftermarket companies begin as offshoots of one or another manufacturer, vehicle or group of vehicles. As the movement gains more momentum, more traditionally domestic aftermarket sources (some of whom have been around for decades) have begun to take an acute interest in our little "flash in the pan" and show it by offering new specialty product lines designed specifically for our market. One such company is Holley Performance Products Inc. Everyone in the automotive industry has probably heard of Holley, but many might not realize the Holley name has been around for about as long as the automobile industry itself.
Holley Motor Co. was founded in 1899 by brothers George and Earl Holley. The company was initially involved in the manufacture of motorcycle racing engines, as the two brothers had extensive experience both building and racing motorcycles in their hometown of Bradford, Pa. The Holleys soon found that orders for racing engines were few and far between, so they began to focus their business on building complete bikes instead.
In 1903, the brothers produced a four-wheeled automobile that utilized a 5.5-hp, single-cylinder engine, and called it the Holley Motorette. The same year, Henry Ford asked them to make a carburetor for his Model T. Sensing the coming trend toward industrial specialization, the Holley brothers began to focus their efforts on designing and building carburetors and ignition system components for the various emerging automobile manufacturers. Along with their business partner, George Welch, they incorporated their business under the name of the Holley Brothers Company.
Holley's original carburetor was called the "iron pot" and was designed for use on Oldsmobile vehicles. A short time later, it began to be used as original equipment on Fords as well. The iron pot's success prompted the brothers to move their company headquarters from Pennsylvania to the Motor City, (aka Detroit). During World War I, Holley supplied carburetors, ignition equipment and brass heads for 75mm shells to the United States military.
In 1918, the company was renamed Holley Carburetor Company. In 1927, Holley began development of carburetors for aviation applications. 1927 was also the year the company began developing carburetors for the Ford Model A. A few years later, during the second World War, Holley supplied carbs and fuel-metering devices for the American war effort; according to the company, approximately half of the carburetors used in World War II were manufactured by Holley.
After World War II, Holley reaped the benefits of an exploding automotive manufacturing market. In 1957, the company introduced the 4150 four-barrel carburetor as standard equipment on the 1957 T-Bird, representing the birth of the modular carburetor we know today. A little more than a decade later, in 1968, Holley Carburetor Company and Colt Industries (now Coltec Industries Inc.), entered into a tax-free merger to diversify each company's respective investments. 1968 was also the year Holley debuted its Dominator(r) racing carburetor. The next two decades would see the expansion of Holley's automotive division. In 1985, Holley entered the fuel injection market, offering replacement fuel injection components, as well as its Pro-Jection(r) line of fuel injection conversion units for carbureted vehicles.
Recently, Holley has begun to acquire aftermarket performance companies that have developed expertise in their respective fields: Hooker, Flow Tech, Airmass, Earl's and NOS, among others. Products from these companies have both complemented and greatly expanded on Holley's original performance product lines. Offerings for the compact car market are far-reaching and extremely comprehensive, ranging from fuel and ignition systems to intake, exhaust and forced induction systems. Offerings comprise such product lines as Holley(r) fuel system components, Annihilator(tm) ignition systems and Power Shot(tm) air filters, Airmass(r) exhaust systems and headers, NOS(r) nitrous injection systems and Earl's(tm) fuel fittings, hoses and brake lines. Supported marques include Honda, Acura, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru and Mazda, as well as the traditional domestic offerings.
All Holley performance products are designed, tested and built at Holley facilities located around the country. Most products have been competition-tested by many top import racers like Abel Ibarra, Craig Paisley, Lisa Kubo and Ed Bergenholtz. Additionally, Holley has instituted racer contingency programs that pay cash to racers running Holley products in IDRC- or NHRA-sanctioned events. One million dollars has been posted for payout to racers that are either class winners or runners-up in such events.
For more information on Holley's extensive line of aftermarket products for domestic and import applications, check out the company's comprehensive Web site at www.holley.com.