Holley Performance Products
Encyclopedia
Holley Performance Products is an automotive
performance company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky
. Holley, when based in Michigan, was one of the major producers of carburetor
s, being supplied as standard equipment on many Detroit-built automobiles.
Later they manufactured carburetors for V8 street and racing applications such as the Holley "double pumper". Holley-style carburetors have powered every NASCAR Sprint Cup team and every NHRA Pro–Stock champion for four decades, these series clinging to the carburetor long after the car manufacturers had switched to fuel-injection. Holley's product range has expanded to include fuel injection, performance fuel pumps, intake manifolds, cylinder heads and engine dress–up products for street performance, race and marine applications. Among the company's owned divisions are brand names Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS), Weiand, FlowTech and Hooker Headers.
in 1896 when brothers George (1878-1963) and Earl Holley started a company to produce a small one-cylinder three-wheeled vehicle they dubbed the "Runabout", with a top speed of 30 mph. At the eve of the era of motorcars, the brothers decided to start the Holley Motor Company, and produced one four-wheeled model: "The Holley brothers built their first marketable automobile in 1902. They called it the Holley Motorette and it sold for $550. More than 600 were produced."
"Their first original carburetor
, called the iron pot, appeared on the curved-dash Oldsmobile
in 1904." In April 1905 Holley Brothers Company was established with an address at 661-75 Beaubien St., Detroit, Michigan. The brothers then concentrated on the manufacturing of carburetors and ignition systems. As a result of the Motorette Henry Ford
commissioned the brothers to produce a carburetor
for his Model T. "The carburetor they built for Ford was an immediate success and the brothers founded Holley Carburetor Co., which became one of Ford's biggest suppliers."
In 1913 George Holley made a tour of Germany to study manufacturing methods, accompanied by Henry M. Leland
, when it was said that a Holley carburetor: "was on more than one-half of the automobiles sent out from American factories this year."
In 1925 a Holley employee, Daniel H. Meloche, was awarded the Edward Longstreth Medal by the Franklin Institute
of Philadelphia. He had invented a method of using metal molds for making metal castings, rendering the sand-cast method obsolete. The process employing long-life molds was leased to the River Rouge plant of the Ford Motor Company, the Harrison Radiator Corporation
, and the plant of Ludwig, Loewe & Co.
, of Berlin.
In 1929 the Los Angeles Times reported that George M. Holley of Pasadena and Detroit and a director of the Aviation Corporation
of Delaware, has been elected a director of the Bach Aircraft Corporation
. Holley, while serving as president of the Holley Carburetor Company, was also a director of National Air Transport
, Kinner Airplane and Motor
, Stinson Aircraft
of Detroit, Air Investors Inc., Towie Aircraft Company of Detroit, and one of the original stockholders of Western Air Express Inc
. In 1931 Holley became a director of the Warner Aircraft Corporation
.
In 1952 Holley closed a plant at Portland, Michigan
, which moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky.
That year Holley produced the Visi-flo carburetor, with a glass inspection window to make a visual check of the fuel level, sediment, flooding and float action. The glass fuel bowl was manufactured by the Lancaster Lens company of Lancaster, Ohio
.
In 1955 the Wall Street Journal reported: "Bowling Green Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of Holley Carburetor Co., each year sends its employes dummy "checks" made out for the amount each employe has received indirectly through fringe benefits."
In 1968 the Plain Dealer reported: "Colt Industries Inc. has acquired Holley Carburetor Co., of Warren, Michigan
, following approval by directors of both companies. Holley Carburetor which makes auto ignition systems and aviation fuel controls, employs about 3,000 at four facilities in three states." At this time the corporate, engineering and sales headquarters were in Warren, with plants in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Paris, Tennessee
and Clare, Michigan
. Holley was said to have a turnover of $40 million in 1967. At the time of the sale the company was primarily owned by members of the Holley family.
In 1974 Holley was making carburetors for Ford and some under its own name at Paris, Tennessee. "Significant facilities expansions were initiated in 1979 at Water Valley, Mississippi to meet carburetor requirements for the new Ford Motor Company four-cylinder car, code named Erika, and in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Paris, Tennessee and Sallisaw, Oklahoma
." In 1993 Coltec Industries Inc., of New York, closed the administrative offices at Warren, Michigan, and a warehouse at Goodlettsville, Tennessee
. These functions were moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In 1998 Coltec Industries sold Holley Performance for $100 million to a management-led team backed by Kohlberg & Co., L.L.C.
In 2000 Holley leased a facility in Aberdeen, Mississippi
, with a plan to centralise five existing plants in the U.S.A., Mexico and Canada.
Effective June 22, 2010, Holley emerged from bankruptcy protection.
Since then Holley has been extremely successful. Thanks to a gearhead crew, Holley has been able to release new and revolutionary products. In addition to products from its other brands, so far in the new millennium Holley has introduced the popular Street Avenger, Truck Avenger, Street HP, and Ultra HP carburetors as well as billet mechanical fuel pumps and high flow billet electric pumps. Holley’s EFI systems have seen massive change with the introduction of Avenger EFI, HP EFI and Dominator EFI. These new EFI systems are truly leading edge and offer the best self-tuning fuel strategies on the market – gone are the days of fearing EFI! In addition, Holley is helping hot rodders and racers with many products for GM’s popular LS series of engines and has even started an event, the Holley LS Fest, focused around it! Four of Holley’s products have recently been inducted into the Hot Rod Magazine Speed Parts Hall of Fame and the Holley 3310 carb was selected as one of the top ten influential speed parts of all time. Holley looks forward to continuing its influence on the performance aftermarket for another 100 years.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
performance company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
. Holley, when based in Michigan, was one of the major producers of carburetor
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
s, being supplied as standard equipment on many Detroit-built automobiles.
Later they manufactured carburetors for V8 street and racing applications such as the Holley "double pumper". Holley-style carburetors have powered every NASCAR Sprint Cup team and every NHRA Pro–Stock champion for four decades, these series clinging to the carburetor long after the car manufacturers had switched to fuel-injection. Holley's product range has expanded to include fuel injection, performance fuel pumps, intake manifolds, cylinder heads and engine dress–up products for street performance, race and marine applications. Among the company's owned divisions are brand names Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS), Weiand, FlowTech and Hooker Headers.
History
Holley began in Bradford, PennsylvaniaBradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford is a small city located in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States 78 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvanian oil rush in the late 19th century...
in 1896 when brothers George (1878-1963) and Earl Holley started a company to produce a small one-cylinder three-wheeled vehicle they dubbed the "Runabout", with a top speed of 30 mph. At the eve of the era of motorcars, the brothers decided to start the Holley Motor Company, and produced one four-wheeled model: "The Holley brothers built their first marketable automobile in 1902. They called it the Holley Motorette and it sold for $550. More than 600 were produced."
"Their first original carburetor
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
, called the iron pot, appeared on the curved-dash Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile Curved Dash
The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, meaning that it was built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907...
in 1904." In April 1905 Holley Brothers Company was established with an address at 661-75 Beaubien St., Detroit, Michigan. The brothers then concentrated on the manufacturing of carburetors and ignition systems. As a result of the Motorette Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
commissioned the brothers to produce a carburetor
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
for his Model T. "The carburetor they built for Ford was an immediate success and the brothers founded Holley Carburetor Co., which became one of Ford's biggest suppliers."
In 1913 George Holley made a tour of Germany to study manufacturing methods, accompanied by Henry M. Leland
Henry M. Leland
Henry Martyn Leland was a machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur who founded the two premier American luxury marques, Cadillac and Lincoln. Retrieved December 30, 2008....
, when it was said that a Holley carburetor: "was on more than one-half of the automobiles sent out from American factories this year."
In 1925 a Holley employee, Daniel H. Meloche, was awarded the Edward Longstreth Medal by the Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
of Philadelphia. He had invented a method of using metal molds for making metal castings, rendering the sand-cast method obsolete. The process employing long-life molds was leased to the River Rouge plant of the Ford Motor Company, the Harrison Radiator Corporation
Harrison Radiator Corporation
Harrison Radiator Corporation was an early manufacturer of automotive radiators that became a division of General Motors in 1918. Today its business is a part of General Motors's Automotive Components Group. Based in Lockport, NY, the company was founded by Herbert C. Harrison, an inventor and...
, and the plant of Ludwig, Loewe & Co.
Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken
Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft , known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when Ludwig Loewe & Company united its weapons and ammunition production facilities within one company...
, of Berlin.
In 1929 the Los Angeles Times reported that George M. Holley of Pasadena and Detroit and a director of the Aviation Corporation
Avco
Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming.-Brief history:The Embry-Riddle Company created the Aviation Corporation in 1928 as a holding company tasked with acquiring small airlines...
of Delaware, has been elected a director of the Bach Aircraft Corporation
Bach Aircraft
The Bach Aircraft Company was established by Morton Bach at Santa Monica, California in 1927 to manufacture trimotor airliners as the Bach Air Yacht in various models. In 1931, the business was reorganized into the Aircraft Production Corporation and did not manufacture any further new designs....
. Holley, while serving as president of the Holley Carburetor Company, was also a director of National Air Transport
National Air Transport
National Air Transport was a large airline. In 1930 it was bought by Boeing. The Air Mail Act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella, so Boeing split into 3 smaller companies, one of which is United Airlines, and it is this that included what had...
, Kinner Airplane and Motor
Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation
Kinner Airplane & Motor Corp was an airplane and engine manufacturer, founded in Glendale, California by Bert Kinner in the mid-1920s. It went bankrupt in 1937 and the aircraft rights were sold to Timm Aircraft Co...
, Stinson Aircraft
Stinson Aircraft Company
The Stinson Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturing company in the United States between the 1920s and the 1950s.-The Company:The Stinson Aircraft Company was founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1920 by aviator Edward “Eddie” Stinson, brother to Katherine Stinson. After five years of business...
of Detroit, Air Investors Inc., Towie Aircraft Company of Detroit, and one of the original stockholders of Western Air Express Inc
Western Airlines
Western Airlines was a large airline based in California, with operations throughout the Western United States, and hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver...
. In 1931 Holley became a director of the Warner Aircraft Corporation
Warner Aircraft Corporation
The Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan was the manufacturer of the Scarab family of radial engines for airplanes in 1928 through the early 1930s.-History:...
.
In 1952 Holley closed a plant at Portland, Michigan
Portland, Michigan
Portland is a city in Ionia County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 3,789. The city is situated in the south central portion of Portland Township, but is administratively autonomous.-Geography:...
, which moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky.
That year Holley produced the Visi-flo carburetor, with a glass inspection window to make a visual check of the fuel level, sediment, flooding and float action. The glass fuel bowl was manufactured by the Lancaster Lens company of Lancaster, Ohio
Lancaster, Ohio
Lancaster is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 38,780. It is located near the Hocking River, approximately southeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fairfield County...
.
In 1955 the Wall Street Journal reported: "Bowling Green Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of Holley Carburetor Co., each year sends its employes dummy "checks" made out for the amount each employe has received indirectly through fringe benefits."
In 1968 the Plain Dealer reported: "Colt Industries Inc. has acquired Holley Carburetor Co., of Warren, Michigan
Warren, Michigan
Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2010 census places the city's population at 134,056, making Warren the largest city in Macomb County, the third largest city in Michigan, and Metro Detroit's largest suburb....
, following approval by directors of both companies. Holley Carburetor which makes auto ignition systems and aviation fuel controls, employs about 3,000 at four facilities in three states." At this time the corporate, engineering and sales headquarters were in Warren, with plants in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Paris, Tennessee
Paris, Tennessee
Paris is a city in Henry County, Tennessee, United States, west of Nashville, on a fork of the West Sandy River. In 1900, 2,018 people lived in Paris, Tennessee; in 1910, 3,881; and in 1940, 6,395. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,763. It is the county seat of Henry...
and Clare, Michigan
Clare, Michigan
Clare is a city in Clare and Isabella counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located primarily in Clare County, the city had a population of 3,173 at the 2000 census....
. Holley was said to have a turnover of $40 million in 1967. At the time of the sale the company was primarily owned by members of the Holley family.
In 1974 Holley was making carburetors for Ford and some under its own name at Paris, Tennessee. "Significant facilities expansions were initiated in 1979 at Water Valley, Mississippi to meet carburetor requirements for the new Ford Motor Company four-cylinder car, code named Erika, and in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Paris, Tennessee and Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Sallisaw is a city in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,880 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sequoyah County. It has three highways running through it: U.S. 59, or Kerr Boulevard,...
." In 1993 Coltec Industries Inc., of New York, closed the administrative offices at Warren, Michigan, and a warehouse at Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Goodlettsville, Tennessee
Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Goodlettsville was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; at the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 13,780. Goodlettsville chose to remain autonomous in 1963...
. These functions were moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In 1998 Coltec Industries sold Holley Performance for $100 million to a management-led team backed by Kohlberg & Co., L.L.C.
Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company is a private equity firm that focuses on leveraged buyout transactions founded by industry pioneer Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.Today, the firm invests in a variety of transactions including leveraged carveouts , take private transactions and acquisitions of privately held companies...
In 2000 Holley leased a facility in Aberdeen, Mississippi
Aberdeen, Mississippi
Aberdeen is a city in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Monroe County....
, with a plan to centralise five existing plants in the U.S.A., Mexico and Canada.
Emergence from bankruptcy
As of February 12, 2008, Holley filed for bankruptcy. The 2008 bankruptcy led Holley to transfer its equity to holders of $95 million in second-lien debt. During 2009 Holley closed a plant at Tijuana, Mexico, that made Hooker Headers, and transferred the work to Aberdeen, Mississippi. As of September 28, 2009, Holley filed for bankruptcy Chapter 11 protection.Effective June 22, 2010, Holley emerged from bankruptcy protection.
Since then Holley has been extremely successful. Thanks to a gearhead crew, Holley has been able to release new and revolutionary products. In addition to products from its other brands, so far in the new millennium Holley has introduced the popular Street Avenger, Truck Avenger, Street HP, and Ultra HP carburetors as well as billet mechanical fuel pumps and high flow billet electric pumps. Holley’s EFI systems have seen massive change with the introduction of Avenger EFI, HP EFI and Dominator EFI. These new EFI systems are truly leading edge and offer the best self-tuning fuel strategies on the market – gone are the days of fearing EFI! In addition, Holley is helping hot rodders and racers with many products for GM’s popular LS series of engines and has even started an event, the Holley LS Fest, focused around it! Four of Holley’s products have recently been inducted into the Hot Rod Magazine Speed Parts Hall of Fame and the Holley 3310 carb was selected as one of the top ten influential speed parts of all time. Holley looks forward to continuing its influence on the performance aftermarket for another 100 years.