Champion Ignition Company 1908 - 1911.

Albert Champion was born in Paris France. His original sparking plug business was located in Boston and was called the "Champion Spark Plug Company". When Durant brought this company to Flint they were still operating under the Champion name, but because that company was still in operation (a legal dispute) they simply used Albert's initials, thus A.C. was born. 1927 death notice. 

 April 1921.

The yellow star shows Albert Champion's first office in Flint which was located in Buick's factory #01. The red one shows the office of the Buick manager. The sequence of photos below are from 1911 showing workers inside the new factory on Industrial Avenue.

October 1908.








This photo from 1909 shows they were still going by the name Champion. Link: For more on A.C. and Champion.







February 1909.

This is 1936 looking north from the roof of the A.C. plant on Industrial Avenue. That is the old W.F. Stewart factory #3 at the right. The background is filled with the Buick factory. Factory #08 garage is in the center with the old Weston-Mott at the left. There is much to see in the background.   Link for more on this.

Aerial view of A.C. on Industrial also showing Stewart factory #3 at upper right.










Original photo of the first A.C. plant on Industrial Avenue looking east.

 February 1909.













A.C. War work.   Read this magazine. 

This photo of the Buick Bug shows A.C. in the background in 1971.This view from the Main Office parking lot is facing southeast.


















This great photo from Leonard Thygesen's collection shows the whole area of Buick including the surrounding area.








I made this rough overlay just to show the relative position of the A.C. factory in conjunction with the Buick factories along Industrial Avenue. The A.C. plant was built on either side of Industrial with bridge's connecting the east and west wings. This view is facing northeast. I don't remember when the A.C. plant was demolished but it was still there in the early 70's.







The A.C. factory when it was still named Champion Ignition Company. This is 1913. This view is facing north with Industrial Avenue on the left. The Buick plant water tower is in the distance. W.F. Stewart factory #3 is on the right in the background. Link here for more. 

 1919.











1918.









This rendering of the Champion factory is mostly correct but all the surrounding buildings are not. This view is facing southeast with Industrial Avenue in the foreground.



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