Meet Kohle Heimlich of American Heritage Performance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kohle Heimlich.

Hi Kohle, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started American Heritage Performance a little over 10 years ago in my home garage at a house I was renting in Torrance. Boy how the Business has grown since then… From a one-man operation in a small two-car home garage to a 5,000+sq-ft shop with 7+ employees.

When I started it was a bare bones. I did not have much in the way of tools, no machines, and not much money to buy tools or really anything with. I did however have loads of grit, hard work, and energy to make something from nothing. Years back before moving out to California (with a single large duffel bag and a one-way plane ticket from Texas) I was a Corvette Specialist but sold everything in order to start over from scratch and build a new life here in Sunny SoCal. Coming up and building a business from nothing in Los Angeles was not the easiest thing to do but I put my head down, ground it out, and made it happen.

The first customers I got were from Craigslist Adds where I would advertise as a cheap expert to work on your Corvette. Being as I was up and coming then the jobs I took were pretty much the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs, not the kind of jobs you brag about that’s for sure. They were pretty much the jobs the legit shops didn’t want to take. I worked on a lot of different cars just to make ends meat. I would take anything back then, clutch swaps on 70’s BMW’s, Rear end rebuilds, swaps on JDM Trucks, you name it I took it. I even did a bit of electrical work back then which is something that I have never been a big fan of (my specialty is engine work after all).

Over a short time period, I got a very good reputation and by word of mouth, I grew a very robust following of customers. As the word spread about my skill, customer service and work ethic so did the line of cars parked on the street in from of my neighbors’ houses. At one point I think I had over 15 cars parked up and down the street just waiting for me to get them into my little home garage for my services.

As time went on I no longer had to do those “bottom of the barrel” jobs I was doing and instead started getting a lot more of the cars and type of jobs that I was truly talented at (Corvettes and Engine work jobs that I specialized in back in Texas). After a short period of time, the neighbors got upset with me for taking all the parking on the street (not to mention the loud high Horse Power Corvettes I was now building in my little rental house garage, lol). So the City came by one day and told me I had to move to a proper property where legally I could work on cars. That was the beginning. We moved out of the rental house and into a cheaper place to live with less overhead and took out a lease on our first commercial unit which was to become What AHP is today.

I started with one small commercial unit and no car lifts. I spent a good two years working on my back saving up for the proper tools, lifts, and machines before I finally was able to buy my first proper two-post car lift. Two solid years doing clutch swaps and engine replacements on my back, although I will admit that the shop was a much more comfortable place to work on your back than the gravel drive driveway or cramped garage of the house. Fast forward a bit and I had two lifts and then took out a second lease on the unit next to our first unit. Around that time I hired my first full-time employee. I tore down the wall between the two units to make one big unit and then bought another lift and more tools.

From there I just kept moving forward doing high-quality work matched with exceptional customer service and really started cranking out big high horsepower engine builds we are known worldwide for today. We just kept growing and growing. I eventually took out a lease on two more units, knocked out more walls, hired more employees, bought more lifts, and bought more lifts, bought more equipment including an Engine Dyno and a Chassis Dyno, along with Engine Machining Equipment. That got us to where we are today; A World Wide well-known and well-respected Corvette Specialty shop with multiple world records to our name!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Owing a business, especially one that you start from the ground up is all about learning what your made of, who you are, want to be and also what you don’t want to be. Its not a smooth road, No. It’s a road less traveled and a road that I personally think a lot more people should take. It might be at times very trying but if you stick it out you will gain so much more than you will ever loose.

You always need to see the glass as half full. Your attitude determines your success. You get stronger during the hard times. Those are the times that teach you what you are really made of and those are the times that forge you into an even harder more resilient version of yourself. Just remember to enjoy the journey because success is not a destination it’s an entire journey.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about American Heritage Performance?
We are known worldwide for our High Horse Power Engines and our LS and LT Cylinder Heads. We produce some of the fastest Corvettes and Corvette parts on the planet. We have multiple world records to our name including the title of the world’s fastest Naturally Aspirated LS7 in a C6z06 Corvette.

We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success can be defined in many terms. For some, it’s solely financial, for some its accolade based, and for yet others it’s about the journey and building solid morals values and learning who you are while not losing touch with what really matters.

Many men can make money in business but some lose themselves in the process. The goal is to become self-realized in all regards, spiritually, physically, mentally, financially, etc. Remember that success is not a destination but a Journey. After all that is what life is; a journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.americanheritageperformance.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanheritageperformance/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanheritageperformance/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHKG_aValCge5nDob2w9Ng
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/american-heritage-performance-harbor-city
• Other: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/members/460527-american-heritage.html

Image Credits
Kohle Heimlich, American Heritage Performance