History and history of ARP ®
They say that in order to be successful you have to identify a need and meet it. In 1968, Gary Holzapfel, an avid racing enthusiast, found that several of his friends' broken engines were due to failure of the fasteners and especially the bolts .
Back then, there weren't any commercially available studs and bolts to meet the challenge. Holzapfel therefore drew on his many years of experience in manufacturing fasteners for a leading aerospace supplier and founded ARP (Automotive Racing Products).
In the years that followed, the company grew from a garage workshop to a highly diversified business to five operating units in Southern California with a total area of over 200,000m². These include forging, machining, finishing and packaging / warehousing facilities in Santa Paula and Ventura, California.
There's even a unique grocery-themed restaurant at the main Santa Paula establishment - called “Hozy's Grill” - that's open to the public.
Today, the ARP product line contains thousands of part numbers and has expanded to include virtually every fastener found in an engine and drivetrain. These range from high performance OEM aftermarket parts to exotic specialty hardware stores for drag racing and marine applications in Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR and NHRA.
