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We sit down with the legendary vic edelbrock jr..

I think right now, the racing at Daytona looks like two grasshoppers mating! – Vic Edelbrock Jr.

Senior wouldn’t just build performance products mind you, rather he would use them himself. Three weeks before Pearl Harbor and the start of World War II, he was clocked at the speed of 121.42 mph in his ’32 at Rosamond Dry Lake. But during the war Vic Sr. would stop building performance products and used his machinist skills for the war effort.

In 1949 Vic Sr. moved into his first purpose-built shop on Jefferson Blvd. At 5,000 sq. ft. it was equipped with a small machine shop, repair bays, engine dynamometer, a small stock room and office space. Throughout the 1950’s Vic Sr. would continue to set speed records and the Edelbrock name flourished.

But in 1962, at the age of 49, Vic Sr. would sadly pass away from cancer. His name and company would be passed on through his 27 year old son Vic Edelbrock Jr. Flash forward to 2011, and the Edelbrock name has become one of the most recognizable names within the performance industry. Their distribution center alone now covers over 65,000 feet.

Recently we got the opportunity to sit down and talk with the 76 year old Vic Edelbrock Jr about a variety of topics:

powerTV: Your father started the Edelbrock name, but what kind of man was he? How did he influence you and your work ethic?

Vic Edelbrock: “ (laughing) Ha, well he would only say it once, and you better take note of what he said. He was German and he was very well liked by everybody, if he liked you then you had a real friend. He passed away at the age of 49 in 1962, I was fortunate because of the friends he had were really loyal to me, and really helped me get through that period.

He had an excellent mind for automotive engines. He only went to school to the ninth grade, because his fathers grocery store burnt down in Kansas, and he had two older brothers and they all had to go to work to support the family. But my father read a lot, he read a lot of books about the internal combustion engine.

A lot of his automotive experience came from the farmers who would buy a model-T, and they would want someone to pick it up for them and bring it to their farms. Of course there were no highways, there was just “dirtways”, so parts would just fall off the Model-T because of the roads. He was forced to be mechanically inclined to pick up the pieces and put them back together. So that was the start of him being able to work with his hands.”

Vic:  “When everybody came back from overseas, people wanted to see cars race. Because midget racing was going on before the war, it just continued after the war. You could go opening day to Balboa Stadium in San Diego where the Chargers use to play football, and if you won opening night which was always on memorial day weekend, you might come home with $15,000 in your pocket. The stadium would hold 32,000 and they would sell every seat.

My father got into midget racing before the war, then after the war he bought a regular car that had a frame rail in it that they called a “rail job”. Then Frank Kurtis designed a modern midget that was a very good looking car, that we happen to have it, and it is fully restored back to it’s original condition. My dad bought it new in 1946, it was number 7 of the Kurtis Kraft machines.

Midget Racing really grew out of Southern California, then moved to northern California before it moved to west. He eventually moved to racing Jalopy’s because more people wanted to see more cars crash. And if you raced a midget, you didn’t want to crash your midget because of how expensive it was to repair it.”

Edelbrock still has the original Ford V8 Kurtis Kraft Midget

PTV: Yeah well that and if you crashed back then, your chances of walking away were very slim.

Vic:  “Oh of course, they only had a lap belt. And then you had drivers like Rex Mays who didn’t believe lap belts. He was killed at Del Mar which was a horse racing track back then. But there is a photo of him that you can find where he’s upside down and he’s coming out of the car. It’s a really scary sight.”

PTV: How did your father come up with the idea to use the Flathead Ford?

Vic Sr. with Vic Jr.

Vic: “ Well, it was never built as a performance engine. Obviously, it was built for low cost. In 1919-20 Henry (Ford) was making 2 million cars a year. So, he was busy making parts!

I don’t know how my father exactly came up with idea. I do know that he bought the ’32 roadster, that was the family car, I was born in ’36, and he bought that around the same time. It had a flat head in it, and of course he started playing with that. At the time everyone was using the 4-cyclinder inline Chevrolet engine. They really turned their nose down on the flathead.

I don’t know why he picked it up, obviously he probably didn’t like the idea of the 4-cylinder and wanted more cylinders and his only V8 option at the time would of been the Flathead Ford

Three weeks before Pearl Harbor, my dad had a roadster that almost went 122 mph. They didn’t have cylinder heads back then, Ford made a small combustion chamber engine design for cars sold in Denver and high altitudes to get a little more performance out of them. My dad would take those and screw around with the combustion chamber, and he ended up using methanol because he could get the compression up.

But when he went 122 (mph) people forget that the right hand would be on the steering wheel, but the left hand would be through the steering wheel pumping on a pressure pump. We still have that car.”

PTV: Really? How many cars do you have at Vic’s garage right now?

Vic : “Oh, probably around 35.”

PTV: Is their one car that stands out above the rest?

Vic : “My Dad’s roadster is everything, but the midget also means a lot. It has the original trailer, and my dad used to tow it with a Woody. Which my wife always wanted one of her own, so we bought one and restored it. Now we have the original midget, trailer, and a restored Woody which really mean a lot.”

PTV: Speaking of racing, Edelbrock is extremely well known throughout the performance industry, but it seems like the past 5 years Edelbrock has been focusing a lot of time at the motorsports arena.

Vic: “ We have, mainly in the cylinder heads. When we started our cylinder head program back in 1992, I didn’t get in to the racing stuff where everyone was, instead I got into street performance. But we have really put an effort over the past 5 or 6 years to build strictly race application cylinder heads. A year ago at PRI we also introduced a brand new manifold design, which set the record books and we feel that the industry has changed because of it. We have the capabilities to make some very complicated pieces, and ensure that there is no shrinks or pulls in the castings.

Also, we are very fortunate to have Dr. Rick Roberts who studied at Cal Tech, and actually went to work for IBM when he got out of school. But luckily he was a car guy, and he couldn’t get away from the car industry. We’ve had a lot of fun over the years and are continuing to have a lot of fun.”

Vic : “Our manifolds have all been changed, but NASCAR mandates where all the nozzles are placed on the manifold. We are already the official manifold of NASCAR, and while we are still making our manifolds, we are not on any Fords this year. But we are on Toyotas, GM, and Dodges.

We are the only independent manifold manufacturer that has been approved for NASCAR use outside of the OE manufactures. We are really proud of that. A lot of teams are still manufacturing the manifolds in-house, but what they are finding is that we can do it at almost half the cost.”

PTV: We got to listen to Dr. Rick Roberts at this year’s AETC and he said that he still uses a CAD system when designing cylinder heads. But he said it was amazing to think that 30 years ago we were doing this with a T-square. What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the manufacturing process during your time building the Edelbrock name?

The biggest thing that has happened to the manufacturing process is the entire CNC process. It has allowed us to make cylinder heads at 1/3 the cost if we didn’t have these machines, and as of right now, we have over 90 CNC machines.

We are also vertically integrated so that everything is under one roof. We have very sophisticated equipment to measure our aluminum and make sure that it doesn’t have gas in it. Aluminum is the most gas filled metal there is, and you have to get that gas out of there. We closely monitor that and keep it in check.”

PTV: What advice would you have for someone that is wanting to work within the performance market, and become someone like Dr. Rick Roberts?

Vic:  “It depends on what their knowledge is, if they are a real gearhead, and know cars then they might not have to go to school. But if you’re not, and you need a little education, then I suggest you go to the various schools out there. Edelbrock is involved with the Ohio Technical College, which has the Edelbrock academy. They teach about using Edelbrock products, and how it can mean a job for you.

There is a real need for installers and programers across the country, but you need the education. Some of the schools like NTI, or Wyotech have great job placement aids also. Having the education really helps put you to the next level, take cylinder heads and camshafts, how many people know what overlap really is?

You take the camshaft, manifolds, cylinder heads, and that’s your induction system. That’s what’s responsible for NASCAR going from a 355 engine, say 20 years ago that only put out 650 horsepower to a 355 that puts out 900 horsepower today.”

Vic Edelbrock Jr. today

PTV: Speaking of NASCAR, one last question for you, what’s the biggest problem facing NASCAR today? What do you think needs to change?

Vic : Ha, well the restrictor plate!… I think right now, the racing at Daytona looks like two grasshoppers mating! I was very upset when I saw the first race at Daytona, I made a phone call to Jerry Cook of NASCAR who is a close friend of ours. When he called me back, after a couple of days I said, “what in the hell are you doing!” I mean this is ridiculous.

But now they are feeling it even more from the public. The public doesn’t like it, the racing is very boring. So I think they have to make some changes to where they are able to go back and draft the proper way, three or four in a line. The cars need more power to be able to slingshot like they did back in the old days. It might mean smaller engines.

Daytona is the biggest race of the year, when people watch it now, people fall asleep in the middle of the race. Once they bring that around, I think that will help improve not only Daytona and Talladega, which helps the whole atmosphere.”

At 76 years-old, Vic Jr. shows no signs of slowing down. For that matter, neither does Edelbrock as a company. 2012 is shaping up to be another great year for the historic company, and with a ton of new products for the performance and motorsports markets, it might be a year they soon don’t forget.

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Industry Icon, Vic Edelbrock Jr., Has Passed Away

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The man that changed an industry: vic edelbrock jr. passes away.

Edelbrock; it’s one of the most recognizable names in the automotive industry. The company was founded in 1938 by Vic Edelbrock Sr. when his desire to increase the performance of his 1932 Ford Roadster led him to design a new intake manifold; nicknamed “The Sling Shot.” After installing the new manifold onto his ’32, Vic took it to a testing ground at the Rosamond Dry Lakes and ran a 7.41 second pass at 121.45 mph in the flying quarter mile; breaking a national speed record. Seeing what Vic’s manifold could do, his friends and fellow drivers soon wanted one as well. This single intake manifold transformed Vic’s automotive repair garage into a parts manufacturing enterprise, making one-of-a-kind performance parts.

During World War II, Vic’s machinist skills were put to work welding and hand fabricating aircraft parts in the Todd Shipyards in Long Beach, California. Even with a ban on auto racing during the war by the Office of Defense Transportation, Vic secretly designed and developed a new line of products after hours. After the war was over, Edelbrock released a line of aluminum racing cylinder heads, as well as other intake manifolds. From there, business kept growing and growing. In 1946, Edelbrock released their first catalog, titled: Edelbrock Power and Speed Equipment. In 1958, they broke into the Chevrolet, Pontiac and Chrysler markets with their performance intake manifolds. Previously, they had only made products for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

Otis Victor “Vic” Edelbrock Jr. was born in August 23, 1936 and started working at his father’s shop during the summers at the young age of 12. “I was making $2 a day and I thought I was really living,” says Vic Jr. in a past interview. After graduating from Dorsey High School, Vic attended the University of Southern California thanks to a football scholarship. As a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, he graduated from USC with a degree in business in 1958. Vic met his wife Nancy Crook in his senior year during rehearsals for the Songfest charity show at the Hollywood Bowl. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. They were officially engaged on Christmas in 1958 and married at Our Savior’s Chapel at USC on March 21, 1959.

Vic soon joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps with the hopes of becoming a fighter pilot. He was scheduled to graduate second lieutenant and had been accepted to flight school. It’s said after Congress passed a law making it mandatory to serve five years to earn combat wings, instead of three years, Vic gave up his dream and went back to helping his father run the family business full time. It proved to be a good choice as three years later in 1962, Vic Sr. was diagnosed with a form of inoperable cancer and only lived for another four months before sadly passing away at the age of 49. “He had no chance,” said Vic Jr. “Four months later he left us.”

The passing of his father left then 26-year-old Vic Jr. in charge of the company as CEO and president of Edelbrock Corp. as he received it in his inheritance. At the time of his father’s passing, the company had just 10 employees with annual sales of $450,000, and $200,000 tucked away in the bank. Many would have blown it all in a couple of years and it’s been said some expected Vic Jr. to do just that. However, Vic Jr. was raised better than that and set out to make his father proud. Not only did he keep the company going but over the next half century would build it into one of the largest performance parts empires in the world. In carrying on his father’s legacy, Vic Jr. reshaped the industry, becoming devoted to designing and manufacturing the highest-quality parts he could; for both the automotive and motorcycle markets.

In 1965, Vic Jr. stepped up Edelbrock’s game when Bob Joehnck, who had been a close friend of Vic Sr., called him with a suggestion. In a past interview, Vic Jr. stated, “He said make a manifold for the small block Chevy. I said to him; they already make one. He replied saying, ‘Trust me, make one.’ So we made one.” That moment was huge for Edelbrock as their small block Chevy manifolds soon became the foundation that shot them into icon status. It was these manifolds that led to a relationship with Holley carbs; which in turn led to even more parts for their catalog. This relationship played a big part in the late ’60s Mopar world, as they teamed up with Chrysler for the 440 Six-Pack powered 1969 1/2 Super Bee and Six-Barrell 1969 1/2 Road Runner. “Bob Cahill from Chrysler product planning came to me with a print layout of the manifold (for the 440 Six-Pack) they wanted and he asked me to make 1,500 aluminum intakes for the first Six-Pack cars (that were built and sent to dealerships),” recalled Vic. He even ordered an early run 1969 1/2 Super Bee, which he owned for 7 years.

In 1968, Vic Jr. would finally earn his wings when he got his private pilot’s license after renting Bob Hedman’s (of Hedman Headers) airplane so he could learn to fly. He would serve as the president of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) from 1971 to 1974 and was on the board of directors from 1967 to 1989. Edelbrock continued to grow in the 1980s and 1990s as Vic he moved the company into a new direction and extended its branches with different product lines that included carburetors, camshafts, valve train parts, exhaust systems and engine accessories; just to name a few. These new product lines allowed the company to become huge in the street and restoration markets. They extended their catalog even more, offering new high-tech shocks and heavy duty suspension parts to the off-road world.

In 1988, Edelbrock opened their brand new aluminum green sand Edelbrock Foundry Corp. facility. This new facility was the key to keeping the company self-sufficient as they could control the quality of their aluminum castings and do everything in house. “Our aluminum castings are very important to us because there are so few foundries in the United States that can supply us with the type of castings that we need,” Vic said in an interview for a 2000 article in the Daily Breeze. “We want to control our own destiny.” Vic truly built the company into the multi million-dollar enterprise it is today; with its own development labs, ad department and assembly lines employing 700 people in three shifts. His dad sure would be proud!

In 2004, it’s reported the annual revenue of the company exceeded $125 million. Vic served as president and CEO of the company until 2010 when he stepped down to focus more on his passion for racing cars and boats. However, he stayed on as chairman of the board and had a heavy hand on everything that happened within the company. “I’ve played football at USC, raced ocean boats and ski boats, but I’ve never felt anything like the adrenaline rush I get in a race car,” Vic once said. Today the company produces over 8,000 different performance parts and has five locations, including four in Torrance, California. These consist of its headquarters, a distribution center and museum, the Russell division (which also houses the shock manufacturing center), the exhaust plant and its foundry is in San Jacinto.

Unfortunately on June 9th, 2017, it was announced Vic Jr. sadly passed away in his Rolling Hills, California home at the age of 80. The following is a release from Edelbrock: “It’s with deep sadness that we announce the untimely death of our visionary and leader Vic Edelbrock Jr. Vic passed away this evening from complications following a recent cold. His passing was peaceful and in the company of his closest friends and family. The Edelbrock Team sends their deepest condolences to his family and will always hold him in our hearts.” Rest in peace Vic. Thank you from all of us at Mopar Connection Magazine for your huge contribution to the automotive world. It wouldn’t be the same without you and your father.

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Cody Krueger

Car Feature Editor – [email protected] Since the age of 4, Cody has been obsessed with everything Mopar. On Christmas of 1998, Cody's parents gave him a rusty '69 Charger shell that his father saved from a field. Cody's garage still features that '69 Charger as well as the additions of a '71 Charger R/T, '71 Super Bee, '73 Duster, '08 Challenger SRT8 and a '13 Ram 3500. Cody can truly and proudly say that he is a true Mopar nut in love with all types of Mopars!

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• Spark Program

by Jeff Smith

He had traded the dust and fine silt of Muroc's dry lake for the wet, sticky clay of Gilmore Stadium, the prestigious quarter-mile that pitted snarling, carbureted midgets against each other wheel to wheel.

To everyone else in attendance, it appeared to be just another night of racing. But Vic Edelbrock had a plan. Tonight, August 20th, 1950 would be special. The universe appeared to align itself behind this crew, their driver Roger Ward, and the Number 27 Ford. The field was filled with Offys, unconcerned with the mere V8 60 Ford flathead that powered the Edelbrock midget. The Offys always won – always. But Vic had a secret.

He had been torturing that V860 for weeks and had come up with a solid combination of a new Isky cam, some porting work – and a model airplane fuel called nitromethane. No one had ever run it in a circle track car and the word was that it was unmanageable - too volatile - and it destroyed engines. But Vic, Sr. was an innovator and learned through more than one broken engine how to tame the liquid beast. Now his time had come and he was confident enough to let Fran Hernandez and Bobby Meeks make the calls in the pits while Vic, wife Katie and son Vic, Jr. watched from the grandstands. It was a rout –Roger outdistanced the Offys, kissed the trophy girl, and created another Edelbrock moment in history.

If the true value of a man be measured more by his close friends and associates than by his accomplishments, then the list of people who called Vic, Sr. their friend is truly telling. Create a list of racing's elite during the decades spanning the '40s through the '60s and the common denominator could often be traced to Edelbrock's Southern California shops.

The men that were his close friends were like a nucleus of influence that shaped nearly everything that would later become organized drag racing, and later still the burgeoning performance market. But those were accomplishments decades still to come. We could recount the innovations that cast out of the North Highland shop and later from Jefferson Boulevard but you won't find the truth in the parts or the accomplishments – it's in the man.

Commitment is a word that is too often lost in the zeal to create a "brand". But commitment was exactly that in the early Edelbrock days. It was Vic, Sr. and a few select men toiling over a post war drill press, cutting new threads and new trails that would permanently cast its creator's name in all those aluminum parts. It had to be right if it was going to carry his name.

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Vic Edelbrock Jr. – Net Worth, Wife, Children, Cause Of Death

By: Author Bulgarea Candin Stefan

Posted on Last updated: December 23, 2022

Vic Edelbrock Jr. was the president of Edelbrock, an American corporation engaged in the manufacture, development, and design of specialty motorcycle and automotive parts.

He took over his father’s performance parts company at age 26.

Vic Jr. was born on August 23, 1936, in the USA.

He was the only child of Vic Edelbrock, an American automotive aftermarket performance parts engineer who established Edelbrock Corporation in 1938.

At age 12, Vic Jr. began spending summers working around his dad’s auto parts shop for $2 a day. He said:

“I was making $2 a day and I thought I was really living.”

He graduated from Dorsey High School.

In 1958, Vic Jr. graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in business.

After the passing of his father in late 1962 (due to cancer), Vic Jr. took the reins of Edelbrock at 26 years old.

After he had become the president of Edelbrock, his mother told him that if she saw the company going downhill she would sell.

At the time of his father’s passing, the company (Edelbrock) had 10 employees with annual sales of about $450,000.

On March 26, 1963, Dean Moon, Al Segal, Phil Weiand Jr., John Bartlett, Robert Wyman, Bob Hedman, Willie Garner, Ed Iskenderian, Roy Richter, and Vic Jr. formed the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA).

SEMA now consists of more than 6,000 companies worldwide, bringing together restoration specialists, specialty equipment distributors, car dealers, original equipment manufacturers, and aftermarket manufacturers.

From 1971 to 1974, he served as SEMA’s President.

Image source – © Guliver / Getty Images

Around 1980, Vic Jr. moved his company into a new direction with a product line that included engine accessories, exhaust systems, valve train parts, camshaft kids, and carburetors. He said:

“We want to control our own destiny.”

In 1982 and 1987, Vic Jr. was named “Person of the Year” by the PWA.

In 1989, he was inducted into the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame.

In 1994, Edelbrock Jr. was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

He was at the helm of the company until 2010. After stepping down as president of Edelbrock Company, he remained as chairman of the board.

READ MORE: Frank Serpico Net Worth

On March 21, 1959, Vic Edelbrock Jr. married Nancy at Our Savior’s Chapel at USC.

The two met during rehearsals for the Songfest charity show at the Hollywood Bowl.

The couple has three children, named – Carey, Christi, and Camee.

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Death & Cause of Death

Edelbrock Jr. passed away in June of 2017, at his home in Rolling Hills, California, due to complications from a cold. He was 80 years old.

He is survived by Nancy, his wife, and his daughters.

Ray Tatko, Summit Racing President, said:

“Vic was an innovator in the industry and always tried to do things the right way.”

Tatko went on to say:

“In many ways, our success over the past 50 years has been tied to Edelbrock’s success.”

Edelbrock Company released a statement:

“It’s with deep sadness that we announce the untimely death of our visionary and leader Vic Edelbrock Jr. His passing was peaceful and in the company of his closest friends and family.”

Paul Sergi, the founder of Summit Racing, declared:

“Vic was a great guy who worked hard to raise our industry standards.” 

”When you are making generic parts you are just another fish in the pond.”

”I’ve played football at USC, raced ocean boats and ski boats, but I’ve never felt anything like the adrenaline rush I get in a race car.”

”It’s the love affair of the automobile, remember that!”

”I’ve been through recessions and bumps in the road because I’ve been around for a while.”

READ MORE: Ken Sugimori & Pokémon

Edelbrock Jr. earned his pilot’s license in 1968. He often flew his own plane from Edelbrock’s Torrance headquarters to the company’s foundry in San Jacinto.

He was a fan of numerous forms of racing from NASCAR to NHRA.

The Edelbrock logo is prevalent in NASCAR.

Vic Edelbrock Jr. – Net Worth

Vic Jr. earned most of his wealth from managing the Edelbrock Company for almost 6 decades. In 2000, the company had more than $100 million in annual sales. In 2004, the revenue exceeded $125 million. In addition, he was a past president of the SEMA.

Therefore, at the time of his death, Vic Edelbrock Jr. had an estimated net worth of $140 million.

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As the owner of FamousPeopleToday.com and managing editor, Bulgarea Candin Stefan leads the way in creating informative and insightful content on celebrity net worths. His professional, authoritative voice shines through every article, providing readers with valuable, unique information.

Vic Edelbrock

SCTA Road Runners member Vic Edelbrock came to California from Wichita , Kansas during the depression days. At the time he rented an open air garage, keeping the rent down. Business was pretty slow so Vic began fiddling around with engines. Vic designed new heads and manifolds. He founded his own company Edelbrock in 1938. His venture became a great success, and it didn't take long before he was head of his own factory in Los Angeles . Vic was also by then recognized as one of hot rodding's speed king. Driving his cars in the early days, Vic was a consistent winner at Muroc and other dry lakes. [1] In 1941 Vic became S.C.T.A. Season Champion for his achievements on the lakes that year. [2]

Vic Sr. died of cancer in 1962 , 49 years old. After he died, Vic Edelbrock Jr. took over Edelbrock . [3]

Cars Owned By Vic Edelbrock

Vic Edelbrock's 1932 Ford Roadster

• ↑ The Jalopy Journal - California’s Big Wheels (Who’s Who for 1952)…
• ↑ S.C.T.A. Time Trials Official Program May 25, 1947
• ↑ Hemmings - Vic Edelbrock Jr, 1936-2017

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Vic Edelbrock Jr., 1936-2017

Vic Edelbrock Jr. passed away Friday, June 9, at the age of 80 after complications from a cold.

“It's with deep sadness that we announce the untimely death of our visionary and leader Vic Edelbrock Jr.,” the company website read. “Vic passed away this evening from complications following a recent cold. His passing was peaceful and in the company of his closest friends and family. The Edelbrock Fun Team sends their deepest condolences to his family and will always hold him in our hearts.”

Vic Edelbrock Jr. took over the aftermarket performance parts company that bears his name after the untimely passing of his father, Vic Edelbrock Sr. Vic Jr. was just 26 when his father died in 1962. With a small but dedicated band of 10 employees, Vic Jr. not only kept the company growing but made it into one of the largest performance parts entities in the world.

It’s a long story that starts in 1933 when Vic Sr. opened an automotive repair shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Soon after, Edelbrock cars were racing on the circle tracks and dry lakes of Southern California during the golden age of hot rodding. In 1938, Vic Sr. bought a ’32 Ford and used it to test new speed parts, more or less inventing the marketing tool that would later be known as “the project car.” The first big seller from an Edelbrock project car was the Slingshot manifold, used by Vic Sr. on the dry lakes to clock a prewar time of 121.42 mph in the ’32.

Business wasn’t the only thing growing for the Edelbrock name. Vic Jr. was born in 1936 and started working summers in his dad’s shop at age 12.

“I was making $2 a day and I thought I was really living,” he told us when we spoke to him for a 2002 story.

The towering Vic Jr. went to the University of Southern California on a football scholarship, graduated with a degree in business in 1959 and went to work full time for his dad’s business. Just three years later, Vic Sr. was diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

“He had no chance,” said Vic Jr. “Four months later he left us.”

Not only did Vic Jr. have to deal with the death of his father and mentor, but he suddenly found himself at the helm of a fully funded company with 10 employees and $200,000 in the bank.

Many an heir would have blown it all in a couple of years, and some expected Vic Jr. to do just that. But one thing the father had taught the son was the value of good people. Among the 10 Edelbrock employees were Don Towle, Bobby Meeks and Bob Bradford.

“They stuck with me,” said Vic Jr.

In 1965 Bob Joehnck, who had been a close friend of Vic Sr., called Vic Jr. with a suggestion.

“He said, ‘Make a manifold for the small-block Chevy,’” remembers Jr. “I said, ‘They already make one.’ He said, ‘Trust me, make one.’ So we made one.”

Did they ever. The Edelbrock manifold for the small-block Chevy became the foundation from which the company springboarded into legend. That manifold led to a relationship with Holley to mate Holley carbs to it, which eventually led to more parts for more cars.

We drove an excellent example of the Total Performance Package back then in 2002 in the streets around Edelbrock’s Torrance, California headquarters -- Vic Edelbrock’s own 1967 SS 396 Chevelle. With an Edelbrock intake, cams, heads, carbs and water and fuel pumps, the 468- cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet made 540 hp and 539 lb-ft of torque (those are gross figures, not today’s legal SAE net measurements). In keeping with the Total Performance Package philosophy, the car also came with Edelbrock springs, shocks, trailing arms and wheels. All we needed was a cigarette behind one ear.

The big-block started with a screech, reminding us how much internal friction these big, meaty engines have. The gauges jumped to life as the car body torqued in the direction opposite crank rotation. Steering through the big, skinny wheel was heavy, the way things were in 1967, and we cruised the streets waiting for the engine temps to warm up. In a few minutes we had enough heat to open it up a little and suddenly it all made sense. Why would a working guy spend a month’s salary on parts? Because of the way this magnificent old beast opened up when you floored the throttle. Suddenly the big-block roared in one long, uninterrupted wail, the exhaust note went to a higher-pitched whaaaaaaaa as the engine neared its 6000-rpm power peak and the ’67 SS leapt forward, scaring the hell out of a number of sensible midsized sedans nearby. Telephone poles, indeed, looked like a picket fence.

Goodbye, Vic Jr. Say hello to Senior for us.

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