Champion

The Champion spark plug company is one of the most successful in Formula 1 history, having supplied spark plugs to around half of the cars to have won events since the start of the World Championship in 1950. The familiar bow-tie Champion logo has been seen in the sport since the earliest days of competition but there are no records from the pre-war era as to which cars used which spark plugs although it is quite likely that Champion supplied Bugatti in the 1920s.

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.