EMPI: The Beginning of VW Performance Parts

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.

However, Joe learned many Volkswagen owners did not think they needed high performance parts and were happy with the 36hp engine that was standard in Volkswagens coming off the assembly line. Relucently Joe added the Austrian company, Denzel, and their high performance VW parts to EMPI as well.

In 1959 Joe designed an anti-sway bar for Volkswagens, and a rear stabilizer that prevented the rear wheels from tucking underneath the wheel well during corners. It was to be known as the camber compensator.

The company EMPI has now changed its name to Engineered Motor Products Inc to place emphasis on the engineering design and product development of its parts.

Speedwell designed a few products exclusively for EMPI, one being a dual-Stromberg carburetor kit. BRM started manufacturing the famous BRM magnesium wheel.

In 1966 Joe began offering a new line of Volkswagen that were outfitted with EMPI performance parts. These cars were known as EMPI GTVs and available in four levels, depending on how many EMPI parts were included.

EMPI grew to 28 distributors throughout the United States, most of these were also Volkswagen dealerships. Volkswagen of America was not pleased with these new performance parts and threatened to cut their supply of new cars to any dealership that did not cease dealing with EMPI.

In 1971, EMPI was sold to Filter Dynamics so Joe could focus more attention on Economotors. At its peak, EMPI sold more than 6 million dollars worth of VW performance parts a year.

Blaine is an avid air-cooled Volkswagen enthusiast, having owned many vintage Volkswagens over the years, he loves to share his passion with others.

Visit OldeSkool Vintage VW for more vintage Volkswagen information.

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Vintage Volkswagen Racing: The Beginning of Deano Dyno-Soar

Dean Lowry joined Joe Vittone and his VW dealership Economotors in Riverside, California in 1955. After realizing how easy it was to repair and service Volkswagen Dean learned all he could and increased his skill level. He decided to make a career of Volkswagens and increasing their performance on the drag strip.

While working for Century Motors in Alhambra, California, Dean helped to build a racing VW beetle that he raced regularly for five months. He then built a dragster with a Porsche engine and began campaigning it in several local drag racing events.

Joe asked Dean to return to Economotors in 1963 and began once again to work with EMPI performance parts. He developed exhaust systems, carburetor kits and valve kits. At this time, Dean built the famous Inch Pincher race VW, one of the most famous race cars.

In 1968 Dean left Economotors again and partnered up with his brother Ken to start their own VW repair and service shop in Santa Ana, California. The brothers wanted to focus solely on building and repairing VW engines full time. This new business was called Deano Dyno-Soars, after Dean's nickname of Deano or Dino.

The Lowry brothers stuck with the dinosaur theme throughout their business, and took up the color purple. They created the Purple Dyno-Soar engine, which was painted purple. The racecars and even their service shop was also colored purple. It became their trademark color.

The Lowrys often went drag racing with Dean's daily driver, a 1954 VW sedan with a 2180cc engine. The car had been lightened to reduce the weight. Custom lightweight spun-aluminum wheels were designed specifically for drag racing VWs and made their debut on the Dyno-Soar racing vehicle. It's best time was 11.62 sec and was the car to beat in the NHRA H/Gas class.

One major advancement Deano Dyno-Soar made in the VW racing world was developing an aftermarket crankcase that allowed VW engines up to the size of 3 liters to be built and housed in the rear engine compartment. It was known as the Ultra Case. Deano Dyno-Soar also designed and developed the first set of aftermarket cylinder heads for VW drag racing. They allowed larger valves to be used than a regular VW head.

After winning numerous races and trophies, they decided to retire the drag racing VW in 1972. The business also called its doors in 1972 and the brothers went their separate ways.

Blaine is an avid air-cooled Volkswagen enthusiast, having owned many vintage Volkswagens over the years, he loves to share his passion with others.

Visit OldeSkool Vintage VW for more vintage Volkswagen information.

Original article