Holley Carburetor Co.
Parallel Names
- Holley Carburetor Co.. Aviation Division
Biography
Locales: Detroit MI (1907-1994) & Bowling Green, KY (1952-Present)
Source: National Dragster Magazine, December 3, 2003: The first Holley Brothers Co. plant in Detroit opened in 1907, and following growth brought on by the burgeoning car industry and diversified industrial production as a result of World War I, the name was changed to Holley Carburetor Co. in January 1918.
After developing carburetors used by such names as Curtiss-Wright, American Airlines, Pan American Airlines, and the U.S. armed forces, Holley produced approximately half of all the military carburetors used in World War II.
Holley entered the automotive aftermarket in 1948, supplying carburetor repair kits and genuine Holley parts to garages and service stations. In 1952, a new manufacturing plant was opened in Bowling Green, KY and product development continued with the first Holley modular carburetor, the mode 4150 that was made standard on the '57 Ford Thunderbird.
After a merger with Colt Industries in 1968, the Holley Replacement Parts Division was formed in 1979 to offer such parts as electrical and ignition components, intake manifolds, fuel pumps, and Mickey Thompson performance products, later followed by fuel-injection systems. In the early 1980s, a carburetor remanufacturing plant was opened in Springfield, Tenn.
When the Holley original-equipment division was purchased by Borg-Warmer in 1994, Holley Replacement Parts was relocated to Bowling Green and the company name was changed to Holley Performance Products.