Do you use Champion plugs?
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 5:04 pm
I bought a new Champion ignition harness for my 170 and was reading the history of Champion spark plugs. I found it quite interesting.
Once upon a time in Paris, France back in the 1890s, there was a speed cyclist who developed a passion for engines in motorcycles and cars. His primary interest was in developing the “sparking plugs” and his plugs were considered the best in the world. His name was Albert C. Champion. He put his name on each plug. In 1904, to be closer to the new automobile businesses in the USA, he moved to Flint, Michigan and founded the Champion Ignition Company. His partners, several brothers from Toledo named Stranahan, took over the company and froze Albert out (familiar story). But because of the established reputation, they held onto the Champion name. Today, in all the Champion historical literature, the name Albert Champion is never mentioned.
Albert Champion, with the backing of the Buick Motor Company, started a new company to manufacture quality spark plugs. He called it the AC Spark Plug Company. The “AC”, of course, happened to be Albert Champion’s initials. In 1916, United Motors was formed and eventually acquired Buick and AC Spark Plug. Albert became a millionaire.
In 1927, Lindbergh used AC spark plugs for his flight across the Atlantic. Albert, who had recently remarried, was with his new bride in Paris at a Lindbergh celebratory dinner. His wife, a former cabaret girl, had been carrying on an affair with a prize fighter. At the dinner, Albert impulsively kissed his wife. This so enraged the fighter, that he attacked Albert. Albert died within three days of the attack (the papers said heart failure). Years later, as Mrs. Champion lay in the hospital on her death bed, the fighter insisted on seeing her. The hospital security guards refused him entry. A fight ensued. The “fighter” was beaten to death. So the story goes. -DM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Champion_(cyclist)
Once upon a time in Paris, France back in the 1890s, there was a speed cyclist who developed a passion for engines in motorcycles and cars. His primary interest was in developing the “sparking plugs” and his plugs were considered the best in the world. His name was Albert C. Champion. He put his name on each plug. In 1904, to be closer to the new automobile businesses in the USA, he moved to Flint, Michigan and founded the Champion Ignition Company. His partners, several brothers from Toledo named Stranahan, took over the company and froze Albert out (familiar story). But because of the established reputation, they held onto the Champion name. Today, in all the Champion historical literature, the name Albert Champion is never mentioned.
Albert Champion, with the backing of the Buick Motor Company, started a new company to manufacture quality spark plugs. He called it the AC Spark Plug Company. The “AC”, of course, happened to be Albert Champion’s initials. In 1916, United Motors was formed and eventually acquired Buick and AC Spark Plug. Albert became a millionaire.
In 1927, Lindbergh used AC spark plugs for his flight across the Atlantic. Albert, who had recently remarried, was with his new bride in Paris at a Lindbergh celebratory dinner. His wife, a former cabaret girl, had been carrying on an affair with a prize fighter. At the dinner, Albert impulsively kissed his wife. This so enraged the fighter, that he attacked Albert. Albert died within three days of the attack (the papers said heart failure). Years later, as Mrs. Champion lay in the hospital on her death bed, the fighter insisted on seeing her. The hospital security guards refused him entry. A fight ensued. The “fighter” was beaten to death. So the story goes. -DM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Champion_(cyclist)