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SPAX: 70 YEARS OF
RACING EXPERIENCE

Spax patented on car adjustable shock absorbers and have been supplying upgraded suspension to Manufacturers, Race Teams, Restorers and Enthusiasts since the 1960’s
Our global network of OEM’s, dealers and specialist mechanics supply on-car adjustable dampers to upgrade original equipment and help accurately tune suspension, allowing our customers to drive with increased confidence on the roads, and win on the track
Spax dampers are all designed and hand-built, to meticulous standards, by our loyal and experienced workforce in Oxfordshire, England. We take pride in the fact that everything we manufacture is made by our own craftsmen, with stringent quality checks at every stage of manufacture

The History of Spax Dampers


SPAX was founded in 1951 by Norman Butcher, who lived in a Somerset village called Spaxton. The name of the company comes from the name of that village. The original product was a car fog lamp and shortly after, the rebuilding of lever arm and other dampers was added.

Then Norman Butcher and his production foreman, Bert Thorogood, developed an adjustable telescopic damper for road and racing cars. The modern day SPAX had been founded. A company called Reproductive Engineering, whose owner, Mr Brown realised the potential of the product, bought SPAX and transferred the production to a new location in Jersey. The sales operation at this point was a shop in East London, but the advent of a new breed of retailer, selling performance car parts, was to transform SPAX. Demon Tweeks and Ripspeed were the two main stockists and distributors of SPAX products. In the late 1970s, SPAX was the market leader in road car suspension in the U.K.

By the mid 1980s, SPAX moved its engineering, sales, warehouse and administration to Bicester in Oxfordshire, the heart of Formula 1 country. At this point, the company was a market leader in suspension for racing, rallying and road cars. In the early 1990s, the factory was moved to Walsall in the heart of England’s manufacturing area. Volumes increased dramatically when exports began to grow.

In the mid 1990s, the company began to develop complete suspension packages, tailor made for each car. Export sales continued to expand and SPAX was now becoming a household name all over the world for performance suspension. The company was now heavily involved with racing at all levels and also supplied the land speed record car, Thrust 2. So successful was this project that Thrust SSC also chose SPAX to break the land speed record at 771 M.P.H. (1.231 Km/H).

In 1998, the whole company moved to one site in Bicester and shortly after, the company was bought by new owners. A new factory with modern systems was introduced at a cost of close to £1 million and the production facility was transformed into a world class manufacturing unit, offering levels of flexibility and customer service that are dreamed about by other companies. All products are 100% tested, epoxy powder coated and oven baked to ensure customers get guaranteed quality, absolute performance and long life.

In 2001, SPAX became one of only a handful of British manufacturers to be granted the German TUV seal of approval for quality – A tribute to all the hard work put in in the factory. SPAX launched a completely re-designed range of Gas pressurised dampers with Krypton gas used in Adjustable Dampers, Nitrogen in Fixed Rate Dampers.

These days the iconic SPAX Gas Adjustable dampers provide users with better low speed ride quality, improved high speed performance, higher cornering speeds, shorter stopping distances and quieter damper operation. The product range has been further enhanced with the introduction of RSX height and damping adjustable kits that are fast becoming the industry standard for performance and quality utilising Stainless Steel technology to its height adjustable damper range. 100% high grade stainless is used for the height adjuster mechanism to ensure corrosion-free height adjustment.

2001
SPAX became one of only a handful of British manufacturers to be granted the German TUV seal of approval for quality – A tribute to all the hard work put in in the factory. SPAX launched a completely re-designed range of Gas pressurised dampers with Krypton gas used in Adjustable Dampers, Nitrogen in Fixed Rate Dampers.
2004
Spax took on a massive modernisation of all of its telescopic “G” damper range giving customers a upgraded product and carrying on leading the way in damper development.
2006
Spax made the decision that all coil over kits will have Stainless steel preload/ height adjustment threads to allow us to be offering one of the best products on the market.
2007-2009
Spax had a huge push on the development of the new and exciting RSX range of products launching a huge selection of new vehicle fitments.
2009
Spax again always wanting to offer the best products to our customers developed and launched the all NEW Steel Double adjustable TrakSPAX range offering our racing and bespoke customers a greater level of on car adjustment for all of the fine tweaks that are needed quickly when in a race situation.
2010
Spax developed and released the all new tethlon skirted piston on telescopic dampers. Offering superior sealing, consistency and a quieter lower friction product.
2011
Spax released the Double adjustable TrakSPAX competition Struts.
2017
Spax made a large investment in the coating plant to ensure that we are always offering a high quality finish to our dampers. This involved a new pre-treatment system, powder guns and implementation of high adhesion base coat to give a high quality and long lasting finish.
2018
Saw the development and release of the all new Spax “DA-C” damper range. This was allowing Spax to offer a steel narrow body double adjustable damper and growing the custom damper range.
2019
after the success of the work carried out in 2010 Spax redesigned all of the “Top Adjustable Struts” to allow them to use the Tethlon Skirted Pistons. This is now allowing Spax to offer a quieter damper whilst also offering better sealing, consistency, reduced stiction and lower friction.
2019
also saw the highly anticipated launch of the “RSX3” coil over range. Following in the footsteps of the popular “RSX” range this new line of kits allowed customers who wanted more on car control than offered in the “RSX” kits to have the ability to control the bump and rebound independently. This kit has been extremely popular with customers who are looking for the ultimate performance gains out of a road or race car.
2022
Spax is excited to be looking forward and having a huge investment in our e-commerce systems. Part of this will be bringing a whole new web shop for our trade and public customers. We are excited to launch and allow customers to deal with Spax in a new way to allow them to check current stock and place orders efficiently and quickly.