Edelbrock was born out of a great mechanic's desire for more performance from an intake manifold in 1938. The "Slingshot" manifold that Vic Edelbrock Sr. created out of aluminum was a dual carburetor 180° manifold for his 1932 Ford flathead roadster. That first Edelbrock manifold helped Vic Sr. when races at Muroc Dry Lake at speeds of 112 miles per hour. Vic sold 100 "Slingshot" Edelbrock manifolds before the World War II.

That 1932 Ford flathead roadster was Vic Edelbrock Sr.'s main platform for testing and development. He would try all his new designs out on the roadster and tweak them to perfection. One of Vic Edelbrock Sr.'s first pieces to be modified were factory cast iron cylinder heads known as Denver heads. Vic wanted more compression out of those Denver heads so he filled and milled them and gained even more horsepower from his flathead roadster.