In 1975, a young man from Melbourne called Tony Brown returned home after a 4WDriving trip through the top end of Australia.
During his travels, Tony met a number of people who, also out exploring this great land of ours, had come in to trouble with their vehicles – broken bull bars or roof racks being the most common. Tony, who was for the most part self-taught, had spent years toiling on his own Series 1 Land Rover, and knew a bit about 4WDs. So he would step in to help where he could.
It was through this experience, an idea formed. Upon his return to Melbourne, Tony enlisted the help of his brothers Andrew and Roger, and began making bull bars and racks that were stronger, tougher, and better suited to outback Australian driving. His products were popular, and orders were soon coming in thick and fast.
And so, Anthony Ronald Brown (Tony) put his initials to his new 4WD accessory company: ARB.
It wasn’t long before Tony and his brothers were producing up to two racks a day, doing everything by hand including painting the racks with a brush! It didn’t take long though before they saw the potential in the company, and early in 1976 they rented a 1000-square-foot property in Olive Grove, Ringwood, hired their first employee, and went on to produce an ever-increasing range of 4WD accessories that are used by many Australians today.
Want to read more on ARB’s history? 4×4 Australia magazine have the full story here: https://www.4x4australia.com.au/gear/1705/arb-history-and-timeline
For more information on ARB products, visit ARB.com.au