More in-depth info can be found at the website(bottom of original post), anything I post here is just specs and a couple pictures.
HARRBOL HISTORY
[size=150]The Early Years: 1971-1986[/size]
The Foundation
Harrbol was first put into the works in 1971 after 2 friends with the last names of Harris and Garbol were tired of working on the same cars in the repair shop they worked at. Harris had always had a keen eye for designs and marketing, and Garbol was a mechanic that could fix anything with enough time. Needless to say, Harris mainly did bodywork and Garbol was the lead mechanic. After some lucky financial gains, they bought their own garage, just big enough to hand-make car bodies and engines. They didn’t actually start selling cars until 1975, but they did moderately well, making and selling all 1,197 cars they made up until 1980 for a profit. A mutual friend, Will Rose, won a $3.3 million lottery and gave $1 million of it to Harris and Garbol to expand, and in return got 5% back on all sales forever.
The Struggle
They bought their first factory in late 1980 north of Houston, Texas. They both agreed that each car had to be affordable to the middle class, with high regards to reliability and practicality. After purchasing some machinery and hiring some workers, Harrbol was ready to roll. With a team of under 80 people, the early cars had to be simple and straight to the point in order to turn a profit. The company was turning a slight, slight profit up until 1982, when Harris, Garbol, and Rose sat down one night and talked. Rose wasn’t happy that he hadn’t made much of his money back, but instead of being furious, offered to help. He gave them another $250,000, said “Make something that will sell. Do it right.” and went home.
Making a Name for Themselves
Harris and Garbol spent the next 3 days repeatedly going over designs, engine ideas, and targeting the right markets. They decided to overhaul one of their models by putting it on a longer chassis, slightly streamlining it, and developing all-new engines. They named it the Willrose, marketed it to city drivers, and the rest was history. Good looking, reliable, spacious and cheap made it one of the most-sold cars of the 1980’s in the U.S… Harrbol had made a ton of money to put towards new equipment, fit their cars with tech, and above all they made a good names for themselves. Will Rose was pretty happy, too.
[size=150]Performance in Mind: 1987-1994[/size]
Starting in 1987, Garbol wanted to make a higher performance version of the Willrose to compete with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf, Renault 5, Ford Escort RS Cosworth, and the Peugeot 205. Garbol and Harris went to many tuning garages in Texas, and spotted High Amps’ Tuning garage. For the past 13 years, they have taken a select number of cars, fitted turbos, upgraded interiors, and sometimes 4WD and showcased them in local areas, meets, and car shows. As they walked into their shop, they noticed that the garage had 3 Willrose’s being worked on. After talking about their plans for the Willroses, H&G went back to the the Harrbol HQ and discussed the options. About a week later, they called H.A.T. Garage and asked them to come down to the headquarters to discuss some possibilities. Just 3 days after, H.A. was officially introduced, dropping the “Tuning” from their name. Within 2 months, they had their own on-site tuning factory, building their own high-performance engines and assembling sportier Willrose’s.
The Willrose 2.3P became the most-sold 200 HP Hatchback in the U.S., and the Willrose PT became one of the most iconic hatchbacks ever, dominating 1/4 mile tracks 10 seconds at a time and winning many stock car races around the globe.
In 1991, Harrbol designed a new, 5-door hatchback, the Flego, but it didn’t share many resemblances to the Willrose, other than a couple engines. More targeted to the family, it was a great 5-passenger(albeit tight fight in the back) with folding rear seats if you needed more cargo room for a road trip or groceries. Because it used the Willrose 1.9L and 2.3L engines, but was revamped with newer technology. It was more powerful, reliable, and economic despite it being just dollars more to make. Along with that, you could get 4WD without shelling out the money for an H.A. model, appealing to the North East of the U.S… They released H.A. models of the Flego, coming standard with 4WD, turbo’ed engines, better suspension, and a higher quality interior. The 1st model used the 2.3P engine, while the 2nd used a revamped 2.3 PT engine. Fitted with VVT, you could get the same MPG as the standard cars, but with more than twice the HP. With a 0-60 just 2/10 of a second slower than the Willrose PT, you really couldn’t go wrong!
[size=150]Unfortunate Events and Turnaround: 1995-1999[/size]
Everything was going great for Harrbol Automobiles. They have already had 2 of the top sellers for the past decade, everyone was making money and happy, and then a catastrophe; While on a business trip to Detroit in October of 1995, Joseph Garbol’s private jet experienced immediate engine failure, losing all power. The only chance of survival was to parachute out, but there simply wasn’t enough time. Garbol, along with 4 other employees and the pilot, died.
Harris was devastated and didn’t know what to do. The company remained stable, but he did not for over a year. In early 1996, Harris was “back to normal”, taking back controls of the company. In an interview with a national TV Program, Harris was quoted saying, “There will be a car named after Joseph, and it will be THE performance monster. It will dominate drag tracks, it will dominate the Texas Mile, and it will dominate race tracks everywhere.” He did not say when the cars will be built(or how many of them), but he has said he’s keeping his promise.
Harrbol, interestingly enough, took the Flego off the production line in 1998, and no cars were produced again until 2000. In another late 1999 interview, Harris was quoted saying, “Harrbol is developing a new business model and strategy to keep up with the new millennium. We will bring a few new models, but will retain past aspects such as reliability, choices, and try to keep cost in mind. The cars will be more high tech and comfortable.”
[size=150]Expanding the Lines: 2000-2006[/size]
Starting in 2000, in the New Millennium, Harrbol created all-new cars. In addition to their usual Civic competitor, they introduced the Samtach (an underpowered coupe with room for improvement), the Memrix (a luxury car similar to the E-Class and 5-Series), as well as the well-selling Trupic (sporty 5-door hatchback). The new cars all advertised new looks for the time, high options for the engines, and technology was a must. Harrbol had wanted to create a subsidiary for its lower end cars, but decided that they wouldn’t sell as much and it wouldn’t be worth it.
According to Harrbol, the early 2000’s made them the most money of any other time frame, allowing them to create more production factories and sell the cars over in Europe. The time was smooth and simple, and there wasn’t really any problems; not even recalls.
