“The traditional V8 is the bulk of what we do,” said Milodon’s Steve Morrison. He feels the company’s “golden years” were the 1950s–1970s, but the current resurgence of American muscle cars “has rejuvenated us.”

This aftermarket pioneer that helped usher in the muscle car era has found a “renewing marketplace” on the strength of its crate engine business and work with modern machines from domestic OEMs.

It’s a given in the world of high performance, especially as it involves good old, American overhead-valve internal combustion: Going fast, whether in a straight line or around corners, requires a specialty oil pan designed from the drawing board for maximum efficiency under severe-service loads. That’s still the essential stock in trade at Milodon of Simi Valley, California, a pioneer in the world of lubrication for extreme-performance engines for more than 65 years.

Milodon, and its famous oil pans, have been the industry standard across drag racing, street performance, and other American motorsports disciplines since Milo Franklin and Don Alderson founded the firm in 1957. And for the record, it’s pronounced “MY-lo-don,” an amalgam of the founders’ given names. 

Milodon first thundered to prominence when the Dead End Kids, a pioneering East Coast drag outfit, moved west and began campaigning in the Top Fuel wars of California with Milodon engineering help, which initially produced the company’s first lightweight Hemi engine block for drag applications. Famed for its bottom-end durability, the Milodon block was employed from Top Fuel to tractor pulling. 

The firm then built an aluminum small block Chevrolet block that became hugely popular in sprint car racing and eventually was raced successfully in the Indianapolis 500. Milodon has since kept its focus on hardcore parts for serious performance engines, its current product lineup encompassing fasteners, valves, gear sets, chains for timing, and engine-assembly tools. But the core of its catalog is oiling equipment, starting with some 150 precision-designed oil pans for nearly every North American engine application, plus windage trays and pumps. About a third of Milodon’s workforce has been onboard since the founders were still in charge, including current owner Steve Morrison, who said Milodon’s pans should be standard equipment for anyone planning to go seriously fast in an American-engine car.

“We have been manufacturing oil pans since 1963,” Morrison said. “We focus ourselves on American domestic V8 applications, not sport compact. It’s just the traditional V8 that’s the bulk of what we do. 

“It’s been kind of a renewing marketplace for us. You get so many crate motors right now from General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. People out there keep building 1955 Chevys. It may not use the original body, but it’s got a tube chassis with fiberglass parts and a brand-new crate motor, so the longevity is there, the drive, that we’ve always experienced. The golden years for us were in the 1950s and 1960s, I guess, and the 1970s, when all these muscle cars filled the streets.”

Market Resurgence

Milodon’s current lineup of oil pans falls into three broad categories, for drag racing, circle track, and off-road. Despite Morrison’s musings about the good old days of early drag racing, Milodon’s current market is vibrant, due in large part to the plethora of crate engines now being sold across the parts counter by every major domestic automaker. “We’re moving forward, which is where we’re at right now with the Camaros and the Challengers and the Mustangs,” Morrison said. “It’s sort of rejuvenated us. Of all the crate motors that are sold, 100% of them will need an aftermarket oil pan to go into whatever chassis the guy wants to put it into. We do this by the dozens every day. The government keeps trying to fight us, but hot rodders always seem to find a way. Business is good for us.”

The global pandemic turned out to be something of a boon for Milodon, at least in terms of sales while most of the planet was in lockdown. “All the performance issues just went crazy on the business end with the COVID-19 issue,” Morrison recalled. “Everybody got to stay home, UPS was still delivering, so hey, let’s get some components and go work on the car. It was sort of a golden opportunity for us. We were working 10 hours a day, seven days a week, for a long time here. Even today, we all work extra hours, but we’re starting to catch up. The supply situation wasn’t too bad. It was more extended, and we went out and bought a lot of materials, and pretty much had them stacked to the roof. It took a little longer for them to get here, so we bought more, and when they got here, we were good.”

Milodon, and Morrison, are bullish on 2023 and beyond. “Our sheetmetal, which is a base material for making oil pans, has come down probably 10–15% from where it was pre-COVID,” he explained. “It was up to a 225% increase before then, so I guess this is a light at the end of the tunnel. We get the materials down, but then everybody’s raised their prices so much, so what do we do with that? Do we lower the cost? The consumer’s seen sticker shock, but between material shortage and container charges, it drove our costs through the roof.”

It’s still undetermined, but if inflation continues to drop, Milodon could consider downward price adjustments in the future. Part of that process involves interacting with other business leaders at the PRI Trade Show, which Morrison has been attending since the very first. 

“PRI is very grassroots, and the location in Indianapolis is in the heart of racing,” Morrison said. “The vibe is always really good for the PRI Show. You have very serious engine builders coming in, looking for information. It’s really beneficial. The Show’s all about racing, everybody’s excited and looking forward to next year, and finding ways to do it better. When Milodon was founded in 1957, it was just a bunch of guys who started out making components and racing on the weekends. And here we are today, a billion-dollar industry.”