Our History

If you’re an avid reader of 5.0 Magazine or Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords Magazine, you know Hanlon Motorsports or the name of our owner and founder, Bob Hanlon. At the age of 15, Bob began his automotive passion by building his 1964 ½ Mustang from the ground up in his parents’ driveway. In 1979 Bob began his automotive career when he landed his first job at Stauffers Automotive Machine Shop in Phoenixville, PA. In 1980 Bob graduated from Phoenixville Vocational Technical High School where he specialized in automotive education. In 1983, Bob purchased his now-famous 1983 Ford Mustang GT, which later became known as the “Amish Buggy”— a nod to the gunmetal gray and black color scheme.

In 1986 Bob left his position at Stauffers in pursuit of a new direction with HG Associates in Limerick, PA. While there, Bob built numerous engine combinations including hot rod, dirt modified, NHRA drag racing, and NASCAR racing engines. Some of the high-profile work Bob did for NASCAR while at HG included cylinder heads and some engine development for Junior Johnson’s team which consisted of drivers such as Bill Elliot, Terry and Bobby Labonte, Harry Gant, and more. Bob also built World of Outlaw, and ASCS sprint engines.

In the late 80’s Bob’s passion for racing quickly grew as he started to turn his attention to racing with his personal 83 Mustang GT. Thanks to many trips to the track and banging the gears in his ‘83, Bob quickly learned how to work on his own manual transmission. Word quickly spread about Bob’s talent for repairing his own transmission and it wasn’t long before friends started sending in their transmissions for repairs. Bob would keep this a part time hobby until 1992 when Hanlon Motorsports was officially established. Because Bob was still working full time at HG Associates, he enlisted the help of his wife and co-owner, Linda Hanlon, to run the business during the day. At night, after a full day’s work, Bob would retire to the garage to do transmission repairs. The business took off and word of mouth about the quality repairs spread quickly. Bob’s racing career in NMCA and NMRA also helped contribute to the growing business and Bob would eventually become known as “Bangin’ Bob Hanlon.” Bob wanted to race what he sold and worked on making his business highly successful. Bob also held the record for the fastest naturally-aspirated Tremec equipped H-pattern transmission – 9.15 @ 152.40 MPH.

With the business booming, Bob left HG Associates in 2006 and made Hanlon Motorsports his full-time career. Since then, Bob and Linda have built relationships with customers from all over the United States and Europe, cementing their status as a successful transmission business.

Today, Bob and Linda’s son, Andrew, has joined Hanlon Motorsports. Andrew’s background includes over 10 years of experience in a fast-paced automotive atmosphere. Andrew was previously employed by AmericanMuscle.com and played an important role in their success. During his time at American Muscle, he gained valuable experience in customer service, automotive tuning, and product development and held several leadership roles. Ultimately Andrew found his way to Hanlon Motorsports with the goal of bringing a modern look and feel to the business. While Andrew can be found assisting with repairs in the shop, his main focus is handling the social media platforms, marketing, and website content.