Edelbrock

History

Vic Edelbrock Sr. came into the world in 1913 in the Kansas farm town of Eudora. When he was 14, a fire destroyed his family's grocery store, so he quit school and started driving Model T Fords from Wichita to nearby farms, often stopping to fix parts that rattled loose on the rough dirt roads. He then picked up work as a mechanic in a local shop. In 1931, during the Great Depression, he headed to California to stay with his brother Carl.

Besides working as a mechanic, he parked cars at night at a Los Angeles apartment building to save up for his own shop. There he met Katherine Collins, a 19-year-old Irish maid who was already engaged; he talked her out of the marriage, and they wed in June 1933. At 22, Vic opened his first repair shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills with his new brother-in-law. By 1934 he had his own place at Venice and Hoover in Los Angeles, and he relocated three more times during the 1930s. His only child, Vic Jr., was born in 1936.

Modern-day racing

The Edelbrock logo appears on NASCAR race cars through a contingency sticker program, not as a team sponsor. A 2004 contract with NASCAR cost $250,000 per year for this arrangement, where monetary awards are posted for winning drivers in exchange for promotional rights. Edelbrock also posts contingency awards for NHRA sportsman drag racing categories. Since 2002, the company has been title sponsor of the PRO Edelbrock Drag Racing Series, which includes seven heads-up racing classes and three index-style classes. In 2021, Edelbrock partnered with Ilmor to build engines for the Superstar Racing Experience, providing camshaft and ignition coils based on the Ilmor 396.

Products

Starting with a single intake manifold for the Flathead Ford eighty years ago, Edelbrock now produces a wide range of engine components, from carburetors and crate engines to superchargers and water pumps. Their products reach customers through online catalogs, traditional retailers, and a direct e-commerce site that went live in 2018.