 Founder Harry Hovis
Harry Hovis founded Hovis Engines as a small sole proprietorship in the 1950s. Although a good businessman, Harry considered himself a racer first. Indeed, with three world records and three national championships to his credit, Harry was a St. Louis legend. Since then, the second and third generations of the Hovis family have worked to create legendary racing engines.
Harry's untimely death in 1968 left nephews Al, Stacey, and George — then just in their teens — suddenly in charge of the business. Just a year later, Al and Stacey each received an all-expenses-paid trip to see the world courtesy of Uncle Sam. Al served in the Army and Stacey in the Navy. After his Vietnam-era service, Al remained in the Army Reserves and later served in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. |
Hovis Engines continued to enjoy steady growth and, in 1989, was formally incorporated in the State of Missouri.
In 1993, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers collaborated to deal Hovis Engines another surprise. The Great Flood submerged the building that housed the business. By then, however, the brothers were "strong swimmers." They managed not only to recover from the damage, but to purchase additional property, facilities, and equipment and to improve them over the last decade. In 1999, Asa Hovis, Al's son, joined the Hovis team as Chief of Operations. Through a series of sponsorships and joint ventures with a number of racing teams, Hovis acquired critical formulative data. The shop added a dynamometer, enabling improvement in production. Small-block, 750+ horsepower Chevrolet engines, economically priced, became the stock-in-trade for Hovis. Today, Hovis builds engines for all types of racing. Balancing innovation with experience and cutting-edge research with relentless testing, the business has continued to expand, winning track championships, capturing national titles, and setting records. Named "Engine Builder of the Year" in both 2002 and 2003, Hovis Engines, Inc. shows no sign of idling! |