Hooker has been making the finest headers since the 1960s. Hooker refined its skills on the first of the factory big block muscle cars, making superior quality headers for the street, strip and oval track. After this bright beginning, Hooker expanded its products to include headers and exhaust systems for "non-race" applications like RVs, tow vehicles, off-road vehicles and many daily drivers. Almost 40 years later, Hooker is still a key player in this industry and became a part of the Holley family of superior performance products in the late 1990's. Hooker started out the 21st Century with a new 350,000 square foot manufacturing, warehouse and distribution complex located in Aberdeen, MS. Together with the cutting-edge engineering and R&D facility in Bowling Green, KY it becomes obvious that Hooker is still firmly in place as the manufacturer of "The World's Best Header." Hooker continues to produce a large variety of superior quality exhaust products and is committed to delivering the very best exhaust performance products out there for the foreseeable future.
Hooker Headers began in 1962 when Gary Hooker innovated a header for his new 409 Chevrolet. He found there was a demand for this header from other racers in this area almost immediately. A short time later Gary was hiring employees and operating Hooker Headers out of a building in South Ontario, CA. Hooker Headers were based on a simple philosophy; provide real, functional power by balancing the intake and exhaust pressure waves. This allowed the expulsion of all the burned gases while bringing in the maximu fresh replacement of fuel and air. The Hooker team was focused on high quality right from the beginning, sometimes spending twice as much time designing a header that would deliver 10% better performance. Hooker was a premier name in the drag race scene in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, with nearly all NHRA Pro Stock (Super Stock), racers winning with Hooker Headers. The early 1970's also saw the introduction of Hooker straight-thru glass pack mufflers, known as the "Hookermuffler." Throught the 1970s and 1980s Hooker experimented in manufacturing things as widely varied as bicycles, skateboards, skis, wheels, motorcycle parts and fiberglass bolt-ons for trucks and vans, known as "California Glass." This branching out resulted in more "non-race" header and exhaust innovations for trucks, vans, motor homes and economy cars. Hooker designed its Metallic Ceramic Theramal Barrier Coating in the early 1990's as an optional finish on its headers. The heat displacement properties and additional life it adds to headers have ensured it is still one of Hooker's most popular innovations even today. The 1990's also brought about the Aerochamber Muffler design, the most advanced muffler of its time and still the most advanced muffler available today. Hooker still is ahead of the curve with innovative products like engine swap headers for putting a late model LS engine into early iron, as well as coating processes with the recent launch of "Darksides" black ceramic. Hooker has become a symbol of performance and quality unequaled in the market today and is well-positioned to continue that trend far into the future.
