From its inception in 1977, Wilwood Engineering has been at the forefront of high performance disc brake technology. As founder and president, Bill Wood's first brake designs were developed to give stock cars racing on short tracks and super speedways superior braking performance with greater reliability. These first brake components incorporated new designs and manufacturing techniques that met with considerable success in helping to redefine the performance level of disc brakes on race cars. An engineering background helped Wood apply new technologies in a wide variety of motorsports applications, and by the early 1980's Wilwood had become a major supplier of high performance racing disc brakes to the industry.