It was a piano that secured the place of Stant Manufacturing, Inc. in automotive history...

The George Stant Machine Works, founded in 1898 in Connersville, Indiana, quickly gained a reputation in the infant automotive industry for quality engine repair. But it was George Stant's innovative method of automating the manufacture of piano tuning pins (subsequently becoming the country's leading precision pin producer) and his expertise at copper, nickel and silver plating that expanded his company's reputation.

Following World War I, The Stant Machine Company, Inc. began designing and manufacturing auto parts, including the two-piece radiator cap. This Stant innovation ensured proper alignment of the radiator ornament and the external Moto-Meter temperature gauge, a fixture on many car radiators in the early 1900s. By the 1930s, Stant had become a leading supplier of high-quality hood ornaments, producing such classics as the flying quail ornament for the first Ford Model A and ornamental caps for various Lincoln, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Cadillac models.

In 1932, George's son, Kyle, invented the locking gas cap. Initially sold to local service stations, these caps later became some of the first products distributed through the growing automotive replacement market. More recently, Stant has developed such recognized products as the LEV-R-VENT® safety radiator pressure cap (1962), the SWIV-EL® radiator cap, featuring an independently rotating shell to allow easier installation and removal (1985) and the PRE-VENT® pressure-relieving fuel cap (1987).

Stant Manufacturing Inc., has won nearly every quality and performance award in the industry, and is one of just five suppliers to win prestigious quality awards from all three major American automobile manufacturers. Stant products are winners on the track as well, competing in NASCAR races and Indy Car competition. Stant brand radiator pressure caps have been on every winning Indianapolis 500 race car since 1960.

Today, Stant Manufacturing Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of automotive fuel, radiator and oil filler caps, on-board refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) valves and pressure, vacuum and fuel system testers. In addition, Stant Manufacturing Inc., also markets a broad line of cooling system components including: thermostats and gaskets produced by sister company Standard-Thomson, a subsidiary of Tomkins plc, and water outlets.

Stant Manufacturing was acquired by Tomkins plc in 1997.