Before the introduction of the four-barrel carburetor, single and two-barrel carburetors prevailed. Naturally, when early hot rodders needed more cfm for their engines the solution was simply adding more carbs. 

The aftermarket soon responded with a wealth of intake options.

For most, adding multiple carbs meant a trip to the salvage yard where there was a cheap and plentiful supply of them. Strombergs were the early choice for many, but as the supply of Strombergs began to dwindle, hot rodders turned to the Holley 94. In 1934, Henry Ford set out to build a carburetor that was more efficient than the Stromberg units he was currently using.

He contracted Chandler-Groves Company to design and build this new carburetor, and in exchange for the one-year contract to build them, Ford was granted the design and patents for this new carburetor. After the first year of production in 1938, Ford awarded the contract to Holley when their bid came in just under ten cents per carb less. Even though the design and first production was all Chandler-Groves, this carburetor soon became known as the “Holley 94.”

The Holley 94s were used on Ford production cars and trucks from 1938-’57 and were produced in the aftermarket into the early ’70s. In short, there are a lot of them, unlike their Strom berg counterparts. The “94” designation for the carburetor refers to the venturi size of 94/100-inch. Later versions would boost the venturi size to one inch and 1 1/16-inch.

These later versions were also referred to as the Holley 2100 and the 2110, but all shared the same design and basic operation as the original Holley 94. After locating several good cores, we set out to give our vintage engine some real hot rod flair with a trio of Holleys mounted atop an Edelbrock intake. Visit your Club website (streetmachineclub.com) and follow along as we rebuild our 94s.