His grandfather, John I. Beggs, made his fortune by implementing Thomas Edison's electrical powerplants in cities around the world, manufacturing and selling electric trolley cars, and founding Milwaukee's public utility system. McCulloch, along with his two siblings, inherited his grandfather's fortune in 1925.
McCulloch graduated from Stanford with a degree in engineering.
While still an undergraduate Milwaukee-based Robert McCulloch was making his mark in the world of speed. He raced in outboard-motor hydroplane contests in more than 15 states and Canada, winning two class championships and collecting some 50 trophies.
Two years after he graduated from Stanford University, he married Barbra Ann Briggs, whose father was Stephen Foster Briggs of Briggs and Stratton.
McCulloch’s first business target was auto racing. He and his team built a four-cylinder two-stroke engine of one liter from which 90 bhp were extracted. Targeting the compact unit at midget racing, McCulloch installed it in a four-wheel-drive chassis.
Taking note of the wave of supercharger launches by Duesenberg, Graham and Auburn, in 1935 Robert McCulloch turned his talents to a compressor suitable for the ubiquitous Ford V-8. The resulting McCulloch Supercharger was launched in 1937 as an $85 kit. More than 5,000 superchargers were sold before McCulloch ceased producing them after 1941 in order to turn his attention to wartime requirements.
McCulloch had a good war, designing and producing Roots superchargers that were used for railcar engines, generator sets and power units for high-speed patrol and torpedo boats. Shifting operations to California, McCulloch was not idle. His post-war activities included experimental helicopters and the compact two-stroke engines that had always been a passion.
Starting with their first McCulloch-branded chainsaw in 1948, his team engineered breakthroughs in small and light saws that became major money-spinners. Exploiting his middle name, McCulloch poured some of his profits into a new enterprise, Paxton Engineering, set up on May 1, 1950 to explore new business opportunities. He decanted more than $700,000 into development of the Paxton variable-speed centrifugal supercharger that achieved wide acceptance both in the aftermarket and as original equipment for Kaiser, Ford and Studebaker.
Then he made a car prototype designed by Brooks Stevens who ingeniously provided for its hard top to slide backward and down to nest snugly over the rear deck for full convertibility.
For anyone that isn't engine/mechanic/car minded, McCulloch might be best known for purchasing the "New" London Bridge, which he moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona—one of the cities he founded.
In 1963, on the courthouse steps of Kingman, McCulloch purchased a 26-square-mile parcel of barren desert that would become the site for Lake Havasu City. At the time it was the largest single tract of state land ever sold in Arizona, and the cost per acre was under US$75.
In 1968, McCulloch was searching for a unique attraction for his city, which eventually took him to London. By the early 1960s it was apparent that John Rennie's 1831 "New" London Bridge was gradually sinking into the River Thames and the City of London Corporation decided that a new bridge was needed. Rather than demolish the existing bridge, they decided to auction the historic landmark.
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