About Rupes
Rupes is an Italian tool manufacturer founded in Milan in 1947. The company's name is short for "Realizzazione Utensili Pneumatici Elettrici Speciali," which translates roughly to "manufacturer of special pneumatic and electric tools." Rupes's factory and headquarters remain in Vermezzo, Italy, and the company established a dedicated North American subsidiary, RUPES USA, in 2015 to serve the US polishing market, later opening a manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas in 2021 focused on polishing pads and compounds.
Rupes is best known in the detailing industry for its BigFoot line of random orbital polishers, introduced in 2010 with long-throw 15mm and 21mm orbits that became a reference point for production-pace paint correction among professional detailers. The company's current catalog spans BigFoot and iBrid electric polishers, forced-rotation Mille polishers, foam/wool/microfiber pad systems, D-A and UNO compounds and polishes, and orbital sanders. On RevRated, the LHR15ES BigFoot Random Orbital Polisher is one of our top picks in car polisher testing, where our review recorded standout vibration dampening and build quality durable enough that years-old Rupes machines keep working and holding resale value on the used market.
Brand website: rupesusa.com
What Rupes makes
Rupes's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
BigFoot Random Orbital Polishers
long-throw 15mm and 21mm electric DA polishers for production-pace paint correction -- featured on RevRated — featured on RevRated
iBrid Polishers
cordless and hybrid random orbital polishers
Mille Forced-Rotation Polishers
gear-driven forced-rotation DA polishers for heavier cutting work
D-A & UNO Compounds and Polishes
cutting compounds and finishing polishes formulated for Rupes pad systems
Foam, Wool & Microfiber Pads
backing-plate-specific pad systems for orbital and rotary machines
Sanders & Dust Extraction
iBrid and Skorpio orbital sanders with S245 vacuum dust-extraction systems
Why we recognized Rupes
The RevRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Rupes earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, run on real vehicles, and judged on merit.
Rupes products we rated highly
Rupes LHR15ES BigFoot Random Orbital Polisher
A 15mm long-throw orbit that's the production-pace standard among professional detailers, cutting paint correction time roughly in half compared to an 8mm machine while retaining dual-action safety against burn-through. Italian engineering and German motor construction deliver bearing life and motor longevity strong enough that 8-year-old Rupes machines still hold resale value on the used market, and in our testing its vibration dampening was the standout in the category, reducing operator fatigue on long correction jobs.
Read the 7 Best Car Polishers of 2026 guide →What earned Rupes the recognition
- Founded in Milan in 1947, Rupes has manufactured pneumatic and electric tools for nearly eight decades, with its headquarters and primary factory still based in Vermezzo, Italy.
- The BigFoot line, introduced in 2010 with a 15mm long-throw orbit, is widely credited in professional detailing circles with resetting the standard for production-pace paint correction.
- In our own testing, the LHR15ES BigFoot's vibration dampening stood out as the best in its class, translating to less operator fatigue on long correction jobs.
- Rupes expanded its North American presence in 2015 with the RUPES USA subsidiary and opened a dedicated pad-and-compound manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas in 2021.
- Build quality anchored in Italian engineering and German motor components is durable enough that Rupes machines eight years old and older still hold resale value on the used market, a rarity in the power tool category.