Since the early days of Volkswagen, one company has always remained on top, EMPI.
EMPI began in Riverside, California by Joe Vittone when he opened a Volkswagen dealership in 1954 with his business partner Holt Haughey. The agency was named Economotors and specialized in selling Volkswagen beetles and buses, and service parts.
Soon after Economotors opened shop, Joe realized the valve guides wore out at an excess rate and he had a hard time finding replacement valve guides. After contacting Volkswagen, he was told it was best to discard the entire valve heads and replace them with new heads.
As a result, Joe decided to manufacture his own valve guides. This allowed old or worn cylinder heads to be repaired instead of being scraped, saving the Volkswagen owner a large amount of money in replacement parts and service.
Economotors saw a surge in customers who wanted to buy the new valve guides, so Joe founded EMPI (European Motor Products Inc) in 1956. At this time in Germany, performance equipment company Okrasa was well-known and Joe decided to add Okrasa to the EMPI line of products, and thus introduced the Volkswagen owner to high performance parts.
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