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Official Site: ACDelco.com
Wikipedia: ACDelco Sponsored Events AC Delco 500 (NASCAR Winston Cup) Page Sections History Documents Article Index |
History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's ACDelco page on 14 January 2017, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
ACDelco is an American automotive parts brand owned by General Motors (GM). Factory parts for vehicles manufactured by GM are consolidated under the ACDelco brand, which also offers aftermarket parts for non-GM vehicles. Over its long history it has been known by various names such as United Motors Corporation, United Motors Service, and United Delco. The brand "ACDelco" should not be confused with GM's former AC Delco Systems, formed in 1994 from the merger of AC Rochester Division and Delco Remy Division. In 1995 Delphi Automotive Systems absorbed AC Delco Systems.
United Motors Corporation was formed by William C. Durant in 1916 as an automotive component and accessory holding company. Durant was the owner of Buick and founder of General Motors in 1908. After he lost control of General Motors in 1910, he founded Chevrolet in 1911 with Louis Chevrolet and the profits from this permitted him to regain control of GM in 1916. At approximately the same time, he assembled United Motors.
Durant's founding of United Motors has parallels in his earlier experience in the horse-drawn carriage industry in Michigan. In the late 19th century he was co-owner of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, one of the nation's leading carriage manufacturers. Concerned that they could not source components and raw materials at affordable prices or in sufficient quantities, Durant-Dort created a vertically-integrated operation owning hardwood forests and manufacturing its own bodies, wheels, axles, upholstery, springs, varnish and whips.
United Motors initially included Alfred P. Sloan's Hyatt Roller Bearing Company (antifriction roller bearings), New Departure Manufacturing Company (ball bearings), Remy Electric Company (electrical starting, lighting, and ignition equipment), Charles Kettering and Edward A. Deeds' Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO automotive ignition, starters and generators), and the Perlman Rim Corporation.
Durant appointed Alfred P. Sloan, who had been president of Hyatt, as president of United Motors. In the next two years, Sloan bought the Harrison Radiator Corporation, Lovell-McConnell Manufacturing Company (renamed Klaxon company to make Klaxon horns) in September 1916, and organized United Motors Service to sell and service the entire line of products nationwide.
United Delco
Around 1960, the division’s name was changed to United Delco. With the Delco name becoming more well-known with consumers, the “Delco” name was incorporated into all of the divisions branches (Delco Remy, Delco Harrison, Delco Packard (Packard Electric), Delco Moraine).
AC Spark Plug Division
In 1899, Albert Champion came to the U.S. as a champion bicycle racer. He found a job with the Stranhan brothers, who had started Champion Spark Plug Company in 1905 or 1906 and began production in 1907. Champion was not happy in his job because he had no control over his work. He already had at least one spark plug patent (from 1898) before leaving Europe. In 1908, he went to see William C. Durant of the Buick Motor Co. 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, MI.
Champion went to work producing spark plugs to be used in Buick automobiles. Champion and Durant formed "Champion Ignition Co." Very shortly later, the Stranahan brothers ("Champion Spark Plug Co.") informed them they could not use the name "Champion" as they had it trademarked. At that time the name was changed to reflect Champion's initials. "AC Spark Plug" was trademarked in 1908. In 1927 AC became a division of General Motors.
AC-Delco
In 1974, in an effort to streamline its operations and marketing, General Motors merged AC Spark Plug's aftersales operation with United Delco to create the new AC-Delco. AC-Delco then marketed various AC and Delco-branded products. In 1982 military garment manufacturer Avirex LTD. produced for AC-Delco a limited edition "The Right Stuff" A-2 flight jacket dedicated to Chuck Yeager and his Bell X-1 aircraft, which broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.
ACDelco
1995 saw a re-branding of AC-Delco. The hyphen was dropped and ACDelco received a new logo and marketing initiative. The "AC" bullseye and semicircular Delco logo disappeared from product packaging.
| Date | Document Name & Details | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 24 March 2008 | NHTSA Recall 08E027000 AC Delco, Control Chassis, McQuay Norris, NAPA, Spicer, 1998-1999 Dodge Ram Steering:Linkages:Tie Rod Assembly National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | Recall Page - 1 page |
| 24 March 2008 | From: George Bielis, Brake Parts Inc. To: Daniel C. Smith, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA Recall 08E027000 |  PDF - 341KB - 3 pages |
| 3 April 2008 | Chassis Tie Rods From: George H. Person, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration To: George Bielis, Brake Parts Inc. NHTSA Recall 08E027000 | PDF - 102KB - 3 pages |
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 16 October 2003 | Automotive Website Parts-World.com Announces Alliance With AC Delco | Advantage Automotive Group |