Pankl Racing Systems AG, a specialty producer of engine and drivetrain systems, recently purchased Superior Crankshaft LP for an undisclosed price. Superior Crankshaft is an ISO 9001:2000-certified company in Irvine, CA, that Gerold Pankl founded in 1985 as Pankl North America, the first Pankl company in the U.S. It custom-builds crankshafts for the performance-racing sector, including teams that race in the F1, NASCAR, LeMans, and DTM circuits.
Pankl was the California company’s major shareholder until 2004. The buyer stated that “health reasons” have spurred the decision to bring the companies together. The California company will be known as Pankl Engine Systems Inc.
Pankl Racing Systems is based in Kapfenberg, Austria. It designs and produces engine and drivetrain components for racing cars, high performance vehicles and the aerospace industry. In California, it already owns CP-Carillo LLC in Irvine, a producer of high-end pistons and engine rods; and Pankl Aerospace Systems LP in Cerritos, a supplier for transmission components, engine shafts, refueling tubes, and landing gear parts for fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
“This takeover is a further step to extend our product portfolio in the engine division. We can now provide our customers with full systems capabilities for the entire crank assembly. SP has built market leadership in the high-end market. In the area of product development, we have already been working together very closely. In many customer projects our engine components (connecting rods, screws, pistons, piston pins and bearing shells) are combined with SP crankshafts. For these reasons we consider