History Of The Ravelco

Developed in Houston Texas

The Ravelco® Anti Theft Device was developed in Houston, Texas on July 20, 1976 by Vincent Raviele. Earlier that year, Mr. Raviele drove his brand new Lincoln Mark IV, (which he could not afford) back home to Rhode Island to show his father how well he was doing in the drag racing business in Texas. (little did anyone know that his car was two payments past due) In downtown Providence on May 30, 1976, Mr. Raviele walked out of a night club toward where he last parked his car. Upon turning the corner he discovered another vehicle parked in its place. He was afraid to call the police right then, because he thought that they were going to tell him (in front of his family - whom he was trying to impress) that his car had been repossessed. The next day the Providence Police recovered the stripped vehicle and contacted Mr. Raviele. The doors, seats, complete interior, tires, wheels, and radio were gone.

Mr. Raviele was determined that having a vehicle stolen would never happen to him again. He searched every phone book and magazine in the country for some type of anti theft device. Even back then, Mr. Raviele knew that everything available was basically for show and did not deter thieves in the least. The only device that was available for the prevention of theft was a push button (kill switch) hooked up to the coil and hidden under the carpet under the brake pedal. An alarm system was also available, but in order to activate it, one had to turn it on with a key that was mounted in the fender of the vehicle. Unhappy with the devices available, Mr. Raviele diligently worked day and night for nearly two months and developed the Ravelco®. The Ravelco® Anti Theft Device has been in continuous production since that time. The only change that has been made to the Ravelco® over the past 30 years has been improvements in the materials used to manufacture the device itself. Today Mr. Raviele is still very active with the Ravelco® Company and devotes much of his personal time working with children involved in baseball. In fact his son, Jimmy attends and is a pitcher for the University of Houston.

No other anti theft device comes close to the long-term continuous success of the Ravelco®. Since it's debut, THERE HAS BEEN NO REPORTED INCIDENT IN WHICH A VEHICLE PROTECTED BY A PROPERLY- INSTALLED AND UTILIZED Ravelco® HAS BEEN STOLEN! The Ravelco® Anti Theft Device is the ONLY product that can claim COMPLETE SUCCESS in preventing car theft! No other alarm system, anti theft device or vehicle tracking system can make that claim. NOT ONE VEHICLE STOLEN IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS!

Since the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11, 2001, numerous manufacturers of Fire Trucks, Rescue Equipment Vehicles, and even Mosquito Spraying Trucks, have contacted us inquiring and purchasing our Ravelco® Anti Theft Device. It makes us real proud when we asked them how they heard about us and they replied "from their local law enforcement agencies."

Currently, more than 2,000 automobile dealers throughout the United States sell and install the Ravelco® and the company has distributors located throughout Europe, Mexico, and South America. But to date, the company has been the principle manufacture and marketer of the product within the United States, which has somewhat limited the distribution of the Ravelco® to some of the country's major metropolitan areas. Now, the company is seeking to expand by locating distributors who actually reside in key marketing areas throughout the country, making them more available to work one-on-one with their dealer-customers. Interested parties are invited to visit our Ravelco® distributor information page.

On September 25, 2001 in Mexico City, Mexico, the Ravelco® Anti Theft Device was tested by CESVI-MEXICO, a company owned by the seven major insurance companies in Mexico. They tried to hot-wire the most stolen vehicle in Mexico City, a 2002 Nissan Sentra that had a Ravelco® installed on it. The CESVI Company said they would approve the Ravelco® if it passed the 8 minute test. They said no theft device or alarm ever took more than 3 minutes to bypass. After cutting wires and trying for 35 minutes they finally gave up. The next day they had the vehicle towed to a Nissan dealer to get it rewired and able to start! Needless to say the Ravelco® was approved. The Ravelco® is the only anti theft device recognized in Mexico for a discount on your insurance. With over 29 million people in Mexico City alone and nearly 200 vehicles stolen per day, the people at CESVI Company should know what does and does not work when it comes to auto theft. No alarm, tracking system or any other anti theft device is approved in Mexico. Of course this makes us at Ravelco® very proud.