Features - Firm Guidance
JULY 31, 2000
Champion
BY JOE SAWARD

The history of the company dates back to 1907 when Robert and Frank Stranahan from Boston, Massachusetts, formed a company to import automobile parts to the United States. They were not satisfied with the quality of the imported spark plugs and so in 1909 designed their own plugs with the help of engineer Arthur Champion. The first plugs were named Champion X and the company expanded quickly, moving from Boston to the industrial city of Toledo, Ohio, in 1910. Sales boomed in the United States and by 1922 Champion had begun to export to the European markets, beginning with Britain and France. The company has always enjoyed a strong tradition of competition.