photographer: Henry Z. DeKuyper
In the late '70s to early '80s I headed up R&D for Redline, which was the sole importer of Weber carburetors in the United States. So I had a lot of experience with Weber carbs, which were primarily import oriented, especially with early 240Zs, Datsun 510s, Toyota Corollas with the 2TC and 3TC engines, among others. So I have always been into imports and four cylinders. Heck, even before that I couldn't afford a 429 Mustang or some Hemi monster so all I had was four cylinders to play with.
I started AEM in 1987 when I bought the R&D division of Redline, with Bob Sullivan. We were partners in it until late '89 when Bob went to work at Dinan Engineering. We had a lot of vintage import racers in the shop. That was because of the affiliation with Weber.
We had an employee named E.T. Saffon. In 1989 he street raced his Integra and was quick, a really good driver. His high jinx got our name known on the street. At the time AEM was in Compton, on Artesia Blvd. High power from small engines was our calling card. E.T. was really active in the street scene so we had a stream of guys coming in to see why he was so fast. The ball got rolling and the rest is history.
We worked with Frank Choi and AEM was the first sponsor of the Battle of the Import series. Stupidly, I brought out a Ferrari Boxer that we converted to fuel injection. While it was cool and drew people in, having a Ferrari in your booth wasn't the best way to earn the respect of import racers. We learned a lesson.
One of the racers we sponsored back in the day was the Honda Service Center Civic of Darrin Ishitani. I remember being interviewed by Kipp (Kington, former Publisher of Turbo) and the Civic just went 11.86 in the July race and Kipp said, "Hey you're the first in the 11s, do you ever think these cars will get into the 9s?" It's the early '90s and I said yeah they'll get into the 9s. Then I said real tongue-in-cheek one of these days some crazy kid will put a wheelie bar on one and chuckled real hard. Sure enough a few years later the Bergenholtzes did just that and it worked. I was totally joking.
We have had incredible luck with the guys we've worked with in the import drag scene. I used to tune on Steph's Civic, the old black car he drove when he worked at JG Engine Dynamics. I worked with the Bergenholtz brothers, Russ Matusevich, Archie Medrano and a bunch of others that don't come to mind right now.
Trends & Technology
Trends-wise I'd say it's the drag racing scene that opened the door to what we have now: a full-fledged industry. It started with a rag-tag band of kids street racing. It was totally underground. Meeting in Wilmington and Walnut or they would set stuff up at the old AEM probably shouldn't have allowed that ... but they would get together and go out racing.
Then we owe a lot to Frank Choi. He was the guy that stepped up and brought it all together. Those first Battles in Palmdale were the Big Bang event that got the cars all together and got enthusiasts talking and building cars and that led to the industry taking notice and seeing the potential.
The magazines contributed a ton. When I started putting the deal together to partner up Peter and Greg Neuwirth, and create AEM in its current state, AEM had gotten a lot of coverage on the covers of a lot of magazines. Turbo and Kipp Kington blew it up.
He is one of the kingpins of this whole thing. Think about it, there was Alan Paradise starting Sport Compact Car on a gritty newsprint paper and Kipp had the Bible of Technology called Turbo. You (Editor, Evan Griffey) and Kipp tuned into it first and did it right. And word got out. Not just in California but nationwide. There were pockets of guys coming up in various locations across the country and that exposure made it gel. And racing dragged in all the lifestyle elements you see today.
Technology
Hands down its electronic fuel injection and engine management. Obviously, the name of our company is Advanced Engine Management because that has always been what I wanted to do from day one. It just took a ton of money and lot of infrastructure that I didn't have back then. You have to remember my roots are in fuel and engine management. Electronic engine management opens the doors to all the things we wanted to do 15 or 20 years ago but could only envision.
Back in the day guys were bringing in turbocharged cars running carburetors. After getting my rear end kicked a week at a time trying to get them right. You gotta remember, I am a carburetor engineer and you just can't get the proper fuelling with this "analog" device.
Electronic management blew the world open. It blew open all aspects: power, drivability, emissions, fuel economy. If you think about it, the ARB (Air Resources Board) in an obtuse way is responsible for the incredible cars we drive today. They mandated emissions, which forced the OEs to invest in EFI development and all the technologies we have today.
Looking forward it's going to be fuel cells and alternative fuels and AEM is in this for the long term. We have people looking into these technologies.