In 1921, by the river of Mörrum in Svängsta, Sweden, Carl August Borgström founded AB Urfabriken. The company manufactured pocket watches, telephone timers and taxi meters. Borgström was a brilliant craftsman with a talent for light precision engineering; skills he had acquired during his years in the Halda watchmaking factory.
When World War II caused a sharp decline in the demand for taxi meters, ABU redirected its skills toward the development of precision fishing reels used by anglers the world over. Abu Garcia later received the honor of being chosen “Purveyor To The Royal Swedish Court,” a distinction bestowed upon a select group of manufacturers for consistently exceeding its highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.
Significant Abu Garcia Milestones
1921 – AB Urfabriken is founded as a watch factory in Svängsta, Sweden
1941 – The first Abu Garcia fishing reel, the ABU Record® is introduced
1952 – The world famous Ambassadeur® reel is introduced
1954 – Abu Garcia® unveils the Ambassadeur® 5000 at the New York World’s Fair
1955 – The ABU 444, the company’s first spinning reel is produced
1956 – The ABUMatic® is introduced
1965 – The Cardinal® spinning reel makes its debut
1977 – The ABU museum is opened in Svangsta, Sweden
1984 – The company name is changed from ABU to Abu Garcia when a company distributor in the US called Garcia was combined with ABU
2006 – The Revo® low profile baitcast reel takes the angling community by storm
2009 – Abu Garcia releases the V-Series of rods with the Vendetta® and Vengeance®
2010 – The first Revo spinning reel is introduced with Revo Premier
2013 – The Revo Low Profile Family is completely redesigned to be lighter, more compact and more powerful
To learn more about the history of Abu, grab a copy of the 2021 August edition of Fishing World magazine and check out the special feature story – Abu Garcia: For life.
Win limited edition Abu Garcia gear
Fishing World has two limited edition Abu Garcia 100th Anniversary T-shirts and two caps to giveaway. For your chance to win, email us your details and the name of Abu Garcia’s famous range of overhead reels introduced in 1952.
Update: The winner of the Abu Garcia comp was Bob Pickworth from Tennyson in NSW. Bob wins a great Abu Sweden t-shirt and hat. Congratulations Bob!
Winners will be announced on the Fishing World newsletter next Thursday 15 July, 2021.
