Throwback Thursday – 70 years ago, when Holley came to town

September is the biggest motorsports event month of the year in Bowling Green. As
home of Holley Performance Products and Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green
welcomes over 50 thousand guests every September for the Holley LS Fest East,
Holley Moparty, and Holley Intergalactic Ford Finals. This week, we buckle up for
some Holley Performance history.
In Bradford, Penn., in 1896, teenage brothers George and Earl Holley built a one-
cylinder, three-wheeled vehicle they called the “Runabout.” It could reach 30 miles
per hour. This was the beginning of the automobile era, and the brothers decided to
build a four-wheel version and start the Holley Motor Company. Their first car was
produced in 1902, for $550 dollars, and over 600 were sold. By 1905, they moved to
Detroit, and were producing carburetors for Henry Ford’s famous Model-T.
Between the late 1920s and 1940s, the Holley brothers also dabbled in aircraft
companies from across the globe. But it wasn’t until 1952 that Holley moved here to
Bowling Green. Holley has been headquartered here ever since, celebrating its 70 th
anniversary in Bowling Green this year.
Holley has expanded from its main Bowling Green campus, with offices downtown
and the Holley project coming soon to Exit 28 off I-65. The company is vital to the
Bowling Green motorsports scene, and one of the top producing high performance
product brands in the world. There are over half a dozen major Holley events in
Bowling Green every year. We look forward to continuing to watch the company
grow.