Motorsport Tapestries
Description: Stock car racer Robert Newton wanted to design a tire compound to gain an advantage against fellow racers. This was done by retreading street tires in order to obtain a compound that would adequately gain enough traction. Using an abandoned barn in his home state of Indiana to start his business, he began sales to local racers, making him the first producer of specialty tires for competition use.
Description: R.A. and F.D. Stranahan are essentially the founders of Champion Spark Plug Company. Sort of. At the very least, they ended up with the patent on the Champion name which they legally and wisely used to eventually create the largest spark plug manufacturing company in the world. But it certainly didn’t start out that way. More than 20 thousand dollars in debt, and with a company that was fledgling along at best, the brothers had little choice but to move to Toledo when Willys-Overland Motor Company offered R.A. and F.D. a contract under which Champion would become the exclusive spark plug of automobiles manufactured at Willys-Overland. The deal came with the stipulation that the Stranahans must make Toledo their home.
