Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and was for many years known for reconditioning engines and for specialised manufacturing, for which it gained a high reputation.

Repco currently runs a series of stores across Australia and New Zealand specialising in the sale of parts and aftermarket accessories.

Repco was founded by Geoff Russell in 1922 and first traded under the name Automotive Grinding Company, from premises in Collingwood, Victoria.

[7][8] On 1 July 2013, Repco and the entire Exego group (consisting of Ashdown-Ingram, Mcleod Accessories and Motospecs) were acquired by Genuine Parts Company.

Jack Brabham approached Repco to develop a suitable engine, and together they decided to base the SOHC design on Oldsmobile Jetfire 215 ci block with six cylinder-head studs per cylinder.

In 1963 the international motor racing body, the FIA, announced that the maximum engine capacity for the Formula One category would be doubled to three litres to start from the 1966 season.

The Repco board agreed to his proposal in light of the expected rival 2.75 L Coventry Climax FPF DOHC engine being of four-cylinder configuration deemed to be near-obsolete, and the plan to build the Cosworth DFV (revealed at the end of 1965 by Ford, its sponsor) was not known yet.

A small team at Repco under Phil Irving developed the F1 engine, fitted with two valves per cylinder SOHC heads from the 2.5L version.

With hindsight Brabham commented that the single cam motor's reliability may have been enough to supplant the more powerful Cosworths as late as the 1968 season.

The Repco project had always been hindered by the lengthy lines of communication between the UK and Australia, which made correcting problems very difficult.

A pair of older Brabham-Repcos were entered in the season opening 1969 South African Grand Prix by local drivers Sam Tingle and Peter de Klerk, but no points were scored on the engine marque's last appearance in the world championship.

The Brabham-Repco project was initially aimed at the Tasman Series, where Coventry-Climax's obsolete FPF four-cylinder engine was dominant in the mid-1960s.

Neither version met with any international success, the turbo in particular being labelled 'Puff the Tragic Wagon' by its development team due to its lack of horsepower (compared with "Puff, the Magic Dragon").

[21] The agreement saw Repco's international marketing of its automotive parts and service equipment supported by Brabham's racing achievements.

[23] The engine first tasted success in the 1970 Australian Grand Prix that was won by Frank Matich driving a Repco-Holden powered McLaren M10B.

This compared to approximately 520 bhp (388 kW; 527 PS) for the other main engine in the Australian Formula 5000 and Sports Sedans categories, the 5.0 L Chevrolet V8.

He also claimed to have already cured the oil problems while developing the still-born Torana GTR XU-1 V8 in 1972 and that Holden ignored his warnings about the Repco engine.