Champion is an American brand of

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

for over 100 years. It is owned by

Tenneco Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a ''F ...

which is owned by

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capita ...

History

Founding and early history

Albert Champion Company was founded by Albert Champion in June 1905 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's South End, in the landmark Cyclorama Building, to import French electrical parts, including Nieuport components. Champion presided as president of the Albert Champion Company with partners Frank D. Stranahan as treasurer and younger brother Spencer Stranahan as a clerk. By 1907, the Albert Champion Company was manufacturing porcelain spark plugs with the name Champion stamped on the side, Robert Stranahan, the youngest of the Stranahan brothers, finished his classes at Harvard, ahead of his class of 1908, and went to work in the stockroom. Champion was not happy in his job because he had no control over his work. In 1908, he went to see William C. Durant of the Buick Motor Company. Durant asked to see some of his prototypes. Buick at that time was using Rajah spark plugs. Durant thought they could manufacture spark plugs to Champion's design cheaper than buying them from Rajah, and set Champion up in a workshop in Flint, Michigan. Champion went to work producing spark plugs to be used in Buick automobiles. In 1910, the company moved to

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, to be close to the Willys-Overland Auto Company. In 1931, Champion introduced its first suppressor-type spark plugs. It used a carbon-based resistor to reduce the effects of ignition noise on radio waves.

"Coso artifact" discovery

On February 13, 1961, two

geode A geode (; ) is a geology, geological secondary formation within sedimentary rock, sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crys ...

prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting rel ...

discovered a metal artifact encased in hard clay near the town of Olancha, California. The artifact was dubbed the " Coso artifact" due to alleged claims that there were fossils in the clay that were 500,000 years old, which would make the item an

out-of-place artifact An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt or oopart) is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest to someone that is claimed to have been found in an unusual context, which someone claims to challenge conventional historica ...

. The object turned out to be a Champion spark plug from the 1920s.

Following an acquisition by Cooper Industries

In 1989, Champion was purchased by

Cooper Industries Cooper Industries was an American worldwide electrical products manufacturer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1833, the company had seven operating divisions including Bussmann electrical and electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds Company, Cro ...

and then was a wholly owned brand of Federal-Mogul Corporation. Its main products are a line of spark plugs for a wide range of cars, trucks, SUVs,

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

, and marine applications. Also included in the brand, depending on the regional market and brand history, are spark plug wires, wiper blades, batteries, oil filters, lighting, and glow plugs. In April 2018,

announced that they had purchased Federal-Mogul in a deal worth approximately US$5.4 billion.

Image gallery

File:Champion spark plugs ad in The Saturday evening post (1920) (14598461799) (cropped).jpg, Champion spark plugs ad in

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

, 1920 File:Champion Spark Plugs, Toledo, Ohio. - DPLA - d353e7abf601d477e0d6dc0e62b9d611 (page 1).jpg, Champion Spark Plug Advertisement, 1914 File:Block Card 900 Upton Avenue - DPLA - 66d4bce3c573a929e7cbe84946dd6472.jpg, Champion Spark Plug Factory at 900 Upton Avenue, 1937 File:Block Card 900 Upton Avenue - DPLA - d88b07787749073015079b7b29af173b.jpg, Champion Spark Plug Factory at 900 Upton Avenue, 1937 File:Block Card 900 Upton Avenue - DPLA - 198036811a2c653a83de17a0ec2c9f2a.jpg, Champion Spark Plug Factory at 900 Upton Avenue, 1937 File:Block Card 900 Upton Avenue - DPLA - 50ec0bb2d40068a316d7d560adf366c8.jpg, Champion Spark Plug Factory at 900 Upton Avenue, 1937

In popular culture

A character, Cliff Booth, portrayed by

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's 2019 film ''

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ''Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica, and distributed by Sony Pict ...

'' wore a Champion shirt, briefly causing it to become a fashion statement in 2019.

References

External links

* {{Toledo 1908 establishments in Ohio Auto parts suppliers of the United States Companies based in Toledo, Ohio Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Manufacturing companies established in 1908 Spark plugs