Type Private Headquarters Clarinda, Iowa Website www.lislecorp.com Founded 1903 | Industry Manufacturing Products Automotive tools Founder C.A. Lisle | |
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Lisle Corporation is a United States manufacturer of auto mechanic's specialty tools. It is an independent, private corporation that has been operated in Clarinda, Iowa by members of the Lisle family since its founding in 1903.
The company manufactures more than 400 different automotive) tools and related items, including the Jeepers Creepers line of mechanic's creepers, and its products are sold at a US retailers, including Carquest Auto Parts and Sears.
History
Lisle was founded in 1903 by C.A. Lisle, originally manufacturing horse-powered water well drilling machines. Later, Lisle made washing machines, cream separators, and reel lawn mowers.
Lisle's first automotive product was an aftermarket master vibrator for the Ford Model T engine, replacing the engine's four trembler coils with a cheaper and more easily adjusted single unit. It then introduced its first tool, an engine valve refacer, a type of lathe for reshaping a cylinder head's valve seats. In the 1930s they added a line of magnetic oil pan drain plugs, which were used in various pieces of military equipment in World War II. In 1943, the company was one of several to win the Army-Navy "E" Award. After the war, the automotive aftermarket boomed and the company began to focus on specialty automotive tools.