FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Non-FE Discussion Forum => Topic started by: ScotiaFE on March 01, 2015, 04:24:04 PM
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Which includes ACCEL, Mr. Gasket, Mallory Ignition, Lakewood, QuickTime and Hays.
The story is a bit old but still some what important to most of us.
http://www.msdignition.com/default.aspx?id=18329&blogid=429
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While Accel (which, in turn, apparently owns Mallory) is claimed to be a "natural fit" for MSD, it's not entirely clear to me whether or not this should be taken as good news for the gearhead hobbyist community. Perhaps the corporate philosophy is to institute a branding convention, with Accel the budget brand, Mallory the intermediate, and MSD the premium.
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While Accel (which, in turn, apparently owns Mallory) is claimed to be a "natural fit" for MSD, it's not entirely clear to me whether or not this should be taken as good news for the gearhead hobbyist community. Perhaps the corporate philosophy is to institute a branding convention, with Accel the budget brand, Mallory the intermediate, and MSD the premium.
It is bad news IMO and not due to any concentration of power (semi-monopoly). Today's cars do not lend themselves to anywhere near the level of modification '60's to 70's muscle car had. Holley's recent bankruptcy was due in part to the much lessened demand for carbs in today's world. Even NASCAR has switched to EFI and one can bet the lesser ranks of truck and stock cars, NASCAR sanctioned or not, will soon dump carbs as well. That and the fact that many a stock OEM ride today cam spank the pants off many a mighty musclecar of the era, with heated seats, A/C and a sunroof to boot! Sad but true.
Looking forward, the old school V-8 muscle car crowd will get smaller, for a host of reasons, and that will negatively impact the number and scope of manufacturers, at least for those kind of cars. Most 'tuner' (read: Asian imports) parts manufacturers would rather drop dead than make muscle car parts. The rise in their importance in the speed industry and sheer volume of parts sales (it is big) predates even what Ford is offering now: Ecoboost! Tiny C.I.D., in-line, high rpm, boosted engines are in our futures no doubt.
I'll enjoy driving my muscle cars while I can but won't be surprised when replacement speed parts start going for even more stratospheric dollars as more manufacturers consolidate and start dropping key parts due to low demand.