EMPI Performance and Replacement Parts
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If you ever owned an air-cooled Volkswagen, you know the EMPI brand. For more than half a century, EMPI has been synonymous with air-cooled Volkswagen replacement and performance parts. What you may not know is EMPI has become the leading supplier of top branded parts, tools and accessories for air-cooled and water-cooled Volkswagens, as well as Porsche with more than 1000 dealers and distributors worldwide. By bringing together elite manufacturers such as JayCee, BugPack, 034MotorSport, Race-Trim, and Treuhaft to partner with EMPI, the EMPI brand has become the pinnacle when it comes to quality, and thoughtfully designed auto parts. EMPI has recently been appointed as the Master Distributor for JP Group Automotive, the premiere manufacturer for classic Porsche parts and VW Vanagon parts manufactured in Denmark.
The Story Behind EMPI VW Parts
EMPI began in 1954, when Joe Vittone opened Economotors in Riverside, CA, a Volkswagen dealership. Joe noticed a design flaw in the air-cooled engine cylinder head that caused the valve guides to wear out rather quickly. Volkswagen’s answer to this problem was to simply replace the cylinder heads with new ones. Joe did not like this answer. Why throw away a perfectly good cylinder head when all that would be needed are new reengineered valve guides? So Joe decided to make his own, and a new company, European Motor Parts Inc (EMPI) to sell them. The success of EMPI’s valve guides and the success of Detroit manufacturers selling high performance parts for American cars, along with Volkswagen owners complaining that their vehicles did not have enough power, made Joe think there could be a market for Volkswagen performance parts. EMPI started selling Okrasa and Denzel engine conversion kits to upgraded cylinder heads to improve the performance of air-cooled Beetles. Soon after, EMPI introduced the front anti-roll bar for the Beetle, allowing it to handle like a sports car. They proved to do this so well that Volkswagen made it standard equipment in 1959. The 1960’s were a huge success for EMPI, adding more performance and dress up parts made in Austria and England, and the EMPI acronym was changed to Engineered Motor Products Inc. to more accurately reflect the high-quality performance parts EMPI was offering. Being both the owner of EMPI and Economotors, Joe Vittone was even able to fit new cars sold by Economotors with upgraded EMPI parts known as EMPI GTVs that were fully covered by the Volkswagen factory warranty. EMPI continued to grow acquiring Mr. Bug, Race-Trim, and BugPack, and its fan base grew as well with EMPI being the #1 supplier of performance parts for Volkswagen Beetles, even after Volkswagen discontinued the model in 1979. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, EMPI’s catalog was expanded to Porsche and water-cooled VW models and seemed to gain almost a cult following with posters of Beetles pulling wheelies on enthusiast’s walls and Beetle show cars appearing in car shows worldwide.
Today EMPI is still the #1 supplier of replacement parts, VW performance parts, body and engine dress up parts for air-cooled Volkswagens and classic Porsches, as well as water-cooled Volkswagen parts. EMPI continues to manufacture VW parts for the seemingly growing classic Volkswagen community. EMPI is also now the parent company of AutohausAZ.
