Warn will be celebrating the anniversary for the rest of 2023, with activities including an upcoming video to showcase the innovations, heritage, and imagery of the company’s history. There will also be employee celebrations both on and off the WARN campus, social media giveaways beginning in June, commemorative swag at events, and a giveaway of a 75th Anniversary WARN M8274 winch. This activity is slated for a July timeframe. The festivities will continue later into the year with a special SEMA Show booth in November.
“Here at Warn we are proud to be celebrating our 75th anniversary, 75 years of off-road heritage,” said Corby Phillips, VP of Sales, Aftermarket. “We could make a strong argument that Warn was a catalyst to start the sport of recreational off-roading. As post-war Willys Jeeps were being used for farming applications and Warn came out with the locking hub to make Jeeps more drivable, and soon after, the off-road hobby really came alive. I also must mention the famous M8274 winch and how it injected confidence into the driver’s seat to try more and more challenging trials. The 8274 is the heart of our tagline of ‘Go Prepared’.”
In addition to previewing upcoming celebrations, Warn provided the following account of the history of the company:
Warn Industries started in 1948 in Kent, Washington. Arthur Warn created hubs to allow better drivability of surplus Jeep vehicles returning from World War II. These were advertised to also help increase fuel economy. Suddenly, the old Willys Jeep would become better to drive both off- and on-road.
The next big innovation came around 1959 when Warn Industries pioneered the electric winch courtesy of the Belleview Model 6000, a three-ton-capacity winch that was powered by the vehicle’s battery. Most winches in this era were PTO-driven (power take off), which required the engine to be running for the winch to work. However, since off-road vehicles of that time were carbureted, at extreme angles, the engines would shut off. This gave the electric WARN winches a distinct advantage: they’d work with the engine off. This trailblazing winch would lead to countless other winch iterations and innovations. Winches remain at the company’s core, but its product offerings have expanded far and wide since then.
Warn has also fostered excellent relationships with a variety of OEM manufacturers across both truck and powersports divisions. Warn provides products directly to several manufacturers including Ford, Stellantis (Ram, Jeep), Honda, and Yamaha to name a few.
Now Warn Industries operates alongside three other brands: Fab Fours, Fabtech, and Factor 55, all of which have all joined under one umbrella over the past few years.
