Holley Pulls Plug on Hilborn Fuel Injection Brand
After acquiring the legendary brand in 2019, Holley has officially decided to end production of Hilborn, the company synonymous with mechanical fuel injection and an eight-pack of velocity stacks.
Hot rodders have been enamored with individual-runner fuel injection since the 1940s, when company founder Stuart Hilborn proved his simple mechanical fuel injection system was up to the task of powering record-setting land speed racers. Hilborn’s own sleek car set records at Southern California’s El Mirage dry lakebed and was featured on the cover of the fourth issue of Hot Rod magazine, in April 1948.
There’s a lot to love about mechanical fuel injection, particularly its amazing performance at wide-open throttle. Individual velocity stacks can easily be swapped to alter the torque curve, allowing racers to get the best performance possible from their engines. They could simply use the same manifold base and change runners to suit different tracks. Of course, there are drawbacks. Tall stacks aren’t easy to package and are best used on race cars. Off-idle and part-throttle performance is also an issue, although adding modern electronic fuel injectors solved that. Still, there’s just not a huge market for individual-runner EFI systems, especially when less expensive, easier-to-package alternatives provide impressive power of their own.
We reached out to Holley for comment and a spokesman told us that the company had hopes to continue the brand after purchasing the brand and its remaining stock in 2019 and moving it from California to Holley’s HQ in Bowling Green , Kentucky.
“Holley spent the next 3 years attempting to resuscitate the Hilborn brand. Key service parts were re-released to support the existing customer base, and the classic Hilborn stack injection products were reintroduced to the market after being updated with modern CNC manufacturing processes, tooling, and quality systems. In November of 2023, an all-new LS3 EFI-R stack injection system was introduced at the Performance Racing Industry tradeshow hoping to inspire a new generation of Hilborn enthusiasts.”
“While nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past”, it doesn’t always equate to sales performance. The performance aftermarket has evolved significantly and while there are still consumers who desire the classic look of a Hilborn, the market is extremely small, leading to the decision to sunset the Hilborn product line.”
“Holley respects the history of Stuart Hilborn’s legacy and has taken steps to ensure that its history will be preserved for future generations.”
Hilborn’s website still has a few LS3 EFI intake manifolds and small-block Chevy lower intakes available, so if you’re in the market, now might be the time to snap one up before they’re gone. The Drive has also reported that there’s still support for those hoping to run a vintage Hilborn mechanical fuel injection system, you might just have to find a specialist like Nick Smithberg, who The Drive reports has purchased lots of Hilborn inventory.
It’s sad to see such a long-lived brand with amazing history get shuttered. If you’ve got a car with stack injection, Hilborn or otherwise, go out and fire it up for the late Stuart Hilborn, and give it a few revs in his honor.
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1 once built a SP 250 Dimeler with a very worked over small block Chevy in it. And it was topped with a Hillborn. To this day I don’t know why I decided to do that,nastalga I guess. It took me a few tries to get it right.When it was working it was something to behold. On the dino it turned 422 hp with 355 cu in. In all the years that I’ve been putting cars together I never felt that kind of throttle response.
My company was the subject of a hostile takeover. The big guys had a division that was bleeding money due to obsolete equipment and a sales division that was giving away the old stuff to get rid of it. The dying division was forced to support the junk. So, our company was given the opportunity to be the bad guy to get rid of those customers. We took the hit which almost put us into bankruptcy. It was then that the big guys to cut us loose to make it on our own again. We fortunately had great hardware to sell, and we survived. But it was a tough 7 years to live through. That could be what Holly was trying to do with Hilborn.
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The market may of been there if Holley sold the system for more engines like hilborn was originally used on only thing Holley wanted to sell them for is small block and big block Chevy’s and LS
Time moves on. For example- who wants to buy a cool new updraft carb? No market anylonger. At the time, Hilborn was the best. Now we’re fighting to keep internal combustion engines alive.
Sad to see a classic brand go away. I understand a lot of folks’ wishes that someone would buy the brand and keep it alive, but I’m afraid they don’t understand the ways of business.
I once bought a dying brand and went broke trying to keep it alive.
I sent a used 2 3/16 Chevy Hilborn injection for a sprint car to Hilborn in Ca. They re bushed it for 300 dollars it worked great in a sportsman sprint. I later bought a brand new one for my new motor in 1999 with the tall stacks not cut off flat tappet cam stock vortex heads made 500 hp and 500 ft pounds torque. 2 to 3 mpg on alcohol. Mag with no advance set at 35 degrees. Push start car rules were 1600 1b min weight with driver. Kinsler and several other companies are still making and selling mechanical fuel injection for sprint cars. Waterman makes great fuel pumps for mechanical fuel injection. It is all still out there. go to Pomona to the drag race husuem. Super cool
Holley has no soul. They’re like spoiled
children that get an expensive toy and just trash it, then shrug it off.
Maybe they could make the drawings an open source. I highly doubt they would do, but stranger things have happened.
Seems to me Holley took it seriously with good intentions, invested heavily for a few years and is admitting failure. I’m sure they’re not happy about it either.
A Patent, is only good for 20 years, then it becomes Public Domain, anybody can use it, manufacture product, sell the product, etc.?? I’m going thru this at the moment with a H-D aftermarket product, that I almost bought 10 years ago, now can make for free?? Thank you Patent Office!!
Holley has become big enough to buy up new divisions and competition, try it out and then kill it if it doesn’t make money. They insisted on changing Brothers truck parts to the point that it makes it a frustrating experience to deal with them anymore and I’ve moved on to other suppliers. They are killing our hot rodding culture.
Short story, first of all i am 80 years old, it was 1967 and was about to get married. I don’t know what they do now, but the bride and groom would exchange gifts. So I gave her present to her she was very happy. Then one of my buds sets a box on my lap. Of course I opened it and there it was a complet “Hilborn System” for my small block chevy, I almost fell off of the chair. I could hardly wait to get the dual quads off and go race. I then became the guy that ” Hey are you the guy, that his wife gave you Hilborn FI for a wedding gift” thats me! Just like mentioned before, ” A cloud is moving in we will have to change the pill.” I think she paid $250.00 for it! The good old days!! Unfortunately, like Hilborn the marrage didn’t last forever either!!