User:PaulGrabowski/Mallory Ignition

Mallory Electric of Toledo, Ohio was incorporated on Friday February 13, 1925. Mallory Electric manufactured its’ products at 1742 Nicholas Building, Toledo, Ohio. Its’ founder Marion Mallory, Sr., moved the company to 12416 Cloverdale Avenue, Detroit, Michigan in August of 1935. This initial move from Toledo to Detroit was made due to their enormous growth in the early thirties and the need to be closer to the Ford Motor Company. Marion Mallory Sr. had established ties with his close friend Henry Ford and together they designed the ignition system for the 1932 Ford V8. Ford Motor Company placed an order with Mallory for One Million distributors for its’ new V8. Mallory supplied much of the “original-equipment” ignition components for Ford through 1948. Today Mallory continues to build performance ignition products for Ford Motor Company vehicles. By the late 1960’s the Detroit plant had become too small and “Boots” Mallory began moving his fathers company to Carson City, Nevada in 1969. Ten of the Mallory Electric Company’s nearly one hundred personnel and their family moved from Michigan to Nevada to help the company get re-established. Within a short period of time the entire company was located at what was then 1801 Oregon Street, Carson City, NV.

Marion Mallory, Sr. was born on April 4, 1893 in Nevada, Missouri. He held hundreds of patents in the automotive field since 1916. He first held patents under his own name, and then used the name “Mallory Research Company”. After 1925, all of his patents were under the name Mallory Electric Corporation. Mallory has patents on items such as electrical systems, shock absorbers, internal combustion engines, ignition coils, ignition timers, ignition systems, governors, air inlet devices, carburetors, and even children’s toy race tracks to name a few. Mallory’s specialty was ignitions, and fuel timing systems but he also invented a breakerless magneto and improved distributors and coils. His patents are held in several countries such as the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France and Germany. Many of the patents have been licensed to other manufacturers. For many years, Marion Mallory, Sr. was second only to Thomas Edison in patent holdings.

Mallory has always been involved in the development and sponsorship of auto racing. The first Mallory ignition system won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb on a Stutz in 1926. The Socony Expedition chose Mallory ignitions for their trek to Moose Factory (the second oldest town in Canada 16 degrees from the Arctic Circle) where no vehicle had ever gone before. Mallory was particularly active in the 1930's at Indianapolis. Wilbur Shaw finished second, driving No.17 the “Mallory Special” at the Indianapolis Speedway in 1933 with a top speed of 100 M.P.H. equipped with a regular Mallory distributor and D.S.M. coil. Mallory continued to set records at “The Brickyard” for many years, including winning more than 16 consecutive races between 1961 and 1983. For years, Mallory has also been involved in other types of motorsports, including drag racing, sprint car racing and NASCAR. For more than 20 years, the Mallory “SUPER-MAG” ignitions won nearly every N.H.R.A. event in Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars. Mallory provided trackside technical support for its products from its 53-foot racing services trailer. This support vehicle and the involvement of our technicians have helped to keep Mallory, Inc. abreast of all the changes and developments in the industry. Customer Service and Innovation have always driven Mallory to success.

The Mallory’s’ sold their company to W.R. Grace, Inc in 1976, and “Boots” Mallory was retained as company president. At that time W.R. Grace, Inc., also owned Mr. Gasket, and decided to form a marine products division which combined the marine products from both companies into one catalog in 1980. Mallory had been manufacturing marine ignition products since 1950. W.R. Grace, Inc. sold the Mallory Electric Corporation in 1981 to Super Shops, Inc. Super Shops, Inc.continued to build on the company’s name and racing heritage with it’s’ race teams and sponsorship. Echlin, Inc. acquired Mallory Inc. from Super Shops on April 22, 1998, and was made a division of Mr.Gasket. In July of 1998, Echlin, Inc. merged with the DANA Corporation into their Engine Controls Group. The manufacturing of the Hurst and ACCEL product lines were then moved from Mr. Gasket headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio to the Mallory facility in Carson City, Nevada. This facility at 550 Mallory Way (in 1980 the city granted the address change to Mallory Way) has once again joined Mr. Gasket and continues to build on the company’s great history and superior products. DANA Corporation sold Mr. Gasket Inc., on March 29, 2001, which included Mallory Inc., to an investment group Performance Products International LLC (PPI). In April of 2007 the announcement was made that once again the Mr. Gasket will be sold.

After positioning themselves to make an attractive package to sell, Mr. Gasket sold off two of its’ long standing divisions Erson Cams and Hurst. This has reduced the Companies size enough to close the Carson City Facility and move the entire Operation to Cleveland, Ohio. On August 1, 2007 Prestolite Wire Corporation of Southfield, Michigan purchased Mr. Gasket, and changed it to Prestolite Performance. Prestolite Performance is now the umbrella for what was the Mr. Gasket Performance Group. Prestolite Performance includes Mr. Gasket, Hays, Lakewood, ACCEL, Mallory, Mallory Marine, and Prestolite Wire. The move to Ohio was completed in January of 2008, and after more than eighty years as a leader of performance automotive ignitions, Mallory is back in Ohio where it all started.