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800-826-3045
THE COMPANY
A Brief History
They say that to be successful you must identify a need
and satisfy it. Back in 1968 racing enthusiast Gary Holzapfel
saw that many of his friends’ broken engines were caused
by fastener failure. At the time, there were no commercially
available studs and bolts up to the challenge. So Holzapfel
called upon his many years of fastener
making experience for a leading aero-
space subcontractor and founded ARP
®
(Automotive Racing Products). In
the ensuing years, the firm has grown
from what was literally a backyard
garage workshop into a highly diversi-
fied manufacturer with five operational
entities in Southern California with
a combined area in excess of 148,000
square feet. These include forging, machining, finishing and
packaging/warehousing facilities in Santa Paula and Ventura,
California. There is even a unique racing-themed restaurant at
the main Santa Paula facility (called “Hozy’s Grill” - which is
open to the public).
Today, ARP’s product line contains thousands of part
numbers, and has expanded to include virtually every fastener
found in an engine and driveline. These range from quality
high performance OEM replacement parts to exotic specialty
hardware for Formula 1, IndyCar, ALMS, NASCAR and
NHRA drag racing and marine applications.
As a matter of fact, ARP’s customer list reads like a “who’s
who” of motorsports around the world. In the past several
years, virtually every major championship on the planet has
been won with engines prepared by ARP customers. These
include NASCAR Sprint Cup, IndyCar, Formula 1, ALMS,
NHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car & Pro Stock, NASCAR
Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. And so
it goes. ARP works closely with many, many teams as a sup-
plier of engine and driveline fasteners, and has clearly become
recognized as “the” preeminent source for serious racers.
In addition to its core automotive business, ARP has an
Aerospace Division, and is one of the very few companies in
the world fully licensed by the United States Government to
manufacture MS-21250 fatigue rated fasteners.
ARP also manufactures a variety of industrial fasteners
on a contract basis, and is known for its ability to promptly
provide efficient solutions to problems at hand.
All metal finishing operations are done in this Santa Paula plant.
This facility is home to ARP’s heat-treating operations.
ARP’s forging facility in Santa Paula, California.
Packaging, warehousing and sales operations are handled out of Ventura.
ARP’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Santa Paula.
Gary Holzapfel
Founder and CEO
Three generations are now involved in the company – Gary: founder &
chairman, Mike: president, Ryan: manufacturing
