Alex Fees: I’m Alex Fees on SBTV.com. We are coming to you from SEMA 07 that Specialty Equipment Market Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, and joining me here now is Tony Mamo. Tony is a Research and Development Manager. I’ve got that right Tony?
Tony Mamo: Yes, you do.
Alex Fees: With the company called Air Flow Research. Tony, good to meet you.
Tony Mamo: Thank you, you too.
Alex Fees: I appreciate your being here. Tell me about Air Flow Research in Valencia, California. And I’ve got to warn you Tony. I’m not a car guy so make it simple.
Tony Mamo: Okay. Basically, we designed at the market cylinder heads for the performance industry. Most of which applied to passenger vehicles, Corvette, Camaro, Mustangs, Fly Birds, some race vehicles as well can use our products. Big black Chevrolet is a very common for that, but you know generally we provide cylinder heads for the masses let’s say.
Alex Fees: Cylinder heads, great. Tell me about SEMA 07. You guys been here before?
Tony Mamo: Yeah, this is our fourth year at SEMA I believe. Going very well, the traffic is good and it’s a good channel.
Alex Fees: Do you have a booth with Air Flow Research and cylinder heads? What kind of business you’re doing here? What kind of contacts?
Tony Mamo: This is good for us. We meet our current contacts that we deal with our distributors, our dealers. We got a chance to shake hands and meet new people that might be interested in our product. We have all our products on display, looks very nice under the lights.
Alex Fees: Yeah.
Tony Mamo: It’s just good to get out there and you know see some people that you’re dealing with and doing business with.
Alex Fees: So Tony is this a custom products? I mean is it for the custom market ?
Tony Mamo: If you own a Corvette of any Vintage for the most part, a Mustang any that typical performance vehicles we make an after marked an aluminum head that will provide more air flow, better performance, better fuel economy if you set it up that way.
Alex Fees: Right.
Tony Mamo: We just improve the efficiency of the engine in general.
Alex Fees: It’s definitely a high performance product.
Tony Mamo: Yeah. It’s in the performance market, but if you set it up good like I said, you can even get a better fuel economy for auto response. It really all depends on how you cater the product. It’s a more efficient piece that improves on the factory technology let’s say.
Alex Fees: Okay, Tony tell me about the Air Flow Research in Valencia, California. How many years you guys had been around?
Tony Mamo: We’ve been around for 35 years.
Alex Fees: Oh, wow!
Tony Mamo: Basically, a family we’re in business of sorts. Ken Sperling started this company I believe back in 1971. He passed in ‘96 and his son Rick Sperling has been carrying the torch ever since. Rick of course has been with the company for probably 20 somewhat years himself. So it’s a great place. I’ve been there with the company for about six years myself.
Alex Fees: Okay. You guys are no strangers to SEMA. You’ve been here before?
Tony Mamo: Yes, we did.
Alex Fees: Then probably been literally in this very hall before.
Tony Mamo: Actually the one hall but yeah.
Alex Fees: Right, as far as your booth is concern.
Tony Mamo: Yeah, exactly.
Alex Fees: What kind of changes have you noticed with SEMA in the years that you’ve been here?
Tony Mamo: I think in the performance industry SEMA in the past was more neon lights and that kind of thing more of the “bling”.
Alex Fees: Right.
Tony Mamo: And the reason we started coming here about five or six years ago was because of the push towards the performance market as well, and also they push all the performance oriented companies in one or two rooms where before you cannot scattered around. You can have a tar gun next to the guy selling neon lights and play frames, and so we don’t really think it was kind of place to be for our product.
Alex Fees: Yeah.
Tony Mamo: And since they kind of now got the performance and built up more.
Alex Fees: Right, that’s kind of grouping now?
Tony Mamo: Correct, they’ve got one hall like dedicated to the performance products.
Alex Fees: Right, well that probably serves you guys well because you know just a client here or a conference attendee who was looking for products like yours they know where to go.
Tony Mamo: Exactly.
Alex Fees: As opposed they’re just walking down the aisles and happening across it.
Tony Mamo: Right, and it’s attracting more the performance oriented companies like ourselves you know more of the hard parts companies that make crunch shapes, cylinder heads more of the hardcore engine parts per se.
Alex Fees: Well, Tony you’re the Research and Development Manager, what else do we need to know about Air Flow? I mean what’s coming up?
Tony Mamo: We’ve got some new products in the pipeline we always do. What do we do in next year? We’re talking about doing a 4.6 Ford which has been, seem to be a big request here to build 4.6 Ford the modular.
Alex Fees: Yeah.
Tony Mamo: Lot of guys are looking for that possibly getting into the big block Ford market. We have a small block Chevy now, that’s how we started. A couple of years back we got into this small block Ford market Mustangs, that type of thing very popular. We have a big black Chevy market and a Gen 3 new small block for like a new Corvette, new Fly Birds and we’re going to continue the brands toward from there. And possibly involved in a Hemi the new Hemi which I think it’s going to be a very big. So that’s one of my that I want to do a new Hemi.
Alex Fees: Yeah.
Tony Mamo: Because I think that’s going to be a very big especially with the new challenge are coming out etcetera.
Alex Fees: Okay, and where can people go to learn more about Air Flow Research and the products you guys have?
Tony Mamo: Basically, go to our website its www.airflowresearch.com. For information we’ve got magazine, articles about our products and various application of our products we’ve got it all on the site there and feel free to pick up the phone as well.
Alex Fees: Okay, give us the phone number while you’re at it.
Tony Mamo: That will be 661-257-8124.
Alex Fees: Alright, good deal. He is Tony Mamo. Tony I appreciate you stand by SBTV.
Tony Mamo: Thank you very much I appreciate the opportunity.
Alex Fees; With Air Flow Research where a lot of people know as AFR.
Tony Mamo: AFR correct yes.
Alex Fees: Alright, good deal. I’m Alex Fees. You’re watching sbtv.com.
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