In 1934, Vic Edelbrock, Sr. opened his own repair shop on the corner of Venice and Hoover in Los Angeles, and almost 70 years later it's still going strong. Edelbrock is a legendary name in traditional American performance and one of the few aftermarket companies that's large and successful enough to be publicly listed with stock traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol EDEL, with shares going for about 10 bucks as this was written. In many ways, Edelbrock is the bedrock upon which the traditional aftermarket has been built, and the backbone which now supports it.
Edelbrock didn't get to be 70 years old by not responding to trends and developments in the automotive aftermarket. The biggest change in the market during the last few years has been the rise of sport compacts as the basis for the high-performance future. So today it's possible to get genuine Edelbrock performance parts for your Honda. That would have been unthinkable just a decade ago.
Leading the company today is Vic Edelbrock, Jr., 66, who is chairman of the board, president and CEO. It's under his leadership that the company went public and embraced import performance.
Sport Compact Car: When did Edelbrock get into the sport compact market?
Vic Edelbrock, Jr.: About 2000. Three years ago.
SCC: Has it been a success?
VE: There's a definite market there for what we do: performance for the engine. But it takes a while to develop. We're real excited about it. We have a good start, and Russell [An Edelbrock subsidiary] has a complete line of hose products. And we have our shock absorbers with the IAS technology that are just excellent. It takes time. No matter who you are. And though people know what Edelbrock is, they're just learning about all it does.
SCC: Have you noticed anything different about the sport compact market compared to your traditional market?
VE: The cars are, of course, different. But basically we're serving a need for whatever kind of performance you need. These [sport compact] engines work well from the factory. We need to mind our Ps and Qs and do our engineering to make the product do what we're trying to get it to do. In other markets, it isn't quite so intense unless we're going all-out racing.
SCC:You're working with older engines in the traditional market.
VE: That's correct. We make a lot of niche stuff for the Ford FE V8. This is a whole new adventure, with four-valve engines and all the other stuff we're working with, like the turbo.
Our turbo system for the Honda is something all new for us. We're working with Garrett and we have a complete kit from A to Z and it weighs 90 pounds. You bolt it on and, on one of our employee's cars, it got 64 hp. That's a whole new frontier for us, and the engines respond very well. We're very pleased with that and we'll continue that program very aggressively.
SCC:Have you seen a drop-off in the traditional market?
VE: The traditional market is still very much on the incline. You have to look for the niches and pick the older cars that haven't been served. We haven't said much about it, but we're going to have a new cylinder head for American Motors V8s. And we'll probably have fuel injection because so many of those engines are in Jeeps and they do rock climbing and such.
SCC: Has anything surprised you in the performance market lately?
VE:I would go back to carburetors. We've been very pleasantly surprised at how many carbs we've sold. Back in the '80s we were very surprised. Fortunately, there are very few disappointments compared to the winners for us. Edelbrock is known as a manifold and cylinder head company. We're not really known for suspension, and getting into the shock business hasn't gone as well as I thought it would, but we had so many good letters and good reactions from customers. In fact, this year in the shock effort, we've come up with a shock called the Extreme Travel with a reservoir-type shock. I've got a set on my Hummer. It's one of those situations where we're a little disappointed at first, but we don't give up, and it's been improving.
SCC:Will we see Honda cylinder heads from Edelbrock?
VE:We've looked at it. We're currently looking at a head that a company in New Zealand has made. We've seen the prototype, and if its pricing is what they say it is, there may be no reason for us to do a head on our own. The dollar is two to one in New Zealand. So we've looked at it, and have done some work in that area.
SCC: How about intake manifolds for Hondas?
VE:We do have intakes and throttle bodies and will have camshafts shortly for Hondas. And we have complete exhaust systems. The Honda manifold that comes with the VTEC engines is already good. With our manifold we pick a niche and that niche is making it run better above the rpm for which Honda's manifolds are good. Our manifold does very well, selling-wise. And we have a throttle body that goes with it. It's not a replacement manifold for going back and forth to the grocery store. It's for the guy looking for maximum performance.
SCC: Do any of your employees drive sport compacts?
VE: Several do. The Civic that was in our [International Auto Salon] booth belonged to one of my engineers. It was almost brand-new, and now he has a good customized car.
SCC: Are they excited about sport compacts?
VE:I think so, because it's something new. Because when you get something new done like the turbo system and you strap it on and make 60 hp, that's exciting.
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