Albert Champion (cyclist)

Albert Champion ( born April 5, 1878 in Paris, † October 27, 1927 ) was a French-American race car driver and constructor of engine accessories. He founded the company Champion Ignition Company, which was renamed in 1909 in AC Spark Plug Co.

Life

At the age of twelve years, Albert Champion began with a job as a messenger for a French bicycle manufacturer. To be on the bike of the company's fastest courier, he trained hard. He was within a few years so successful that he was driving with 16 years in 1894 for his first victory in a national cycling race. 1899 champion won the race Paris -Roubaix and five years later he became a French stayer Master, although he had a shortened leg due to an accident.

From the bike, it was only a short step to the Motorcycle Racing, in 1899 eventually led him to America for the tempo enthusiastic champion. To increase the performance of its motorcycles, Champion tinkered with the then usual spark again and reached significant improvements. In 1904 he founded his own company in Flint, the Champion Ignition Company and began importing and the production and marketing of spark plugs and other accessories.

The 1909 renamed the AC Spark Plug Company company was very successful and in 1927, bought after the death of Albert Champion, General Motors and incorporated into the Group.

After his early death at 49 years of age expressed Alfred P. Sloan, then president of General Motors: "The keynote of Champion's success what did he what never satisfied (...) his mind what open to the necessity for constant improvement. " ( German: the key to Champions success was that he was never satisfied (...) He was receptive to the need for continuous improvement).