Mr. Gasket Timeline

Since the Mallory name became associated with automobiles in 1916, the company has survived the economic forces of nearly a century. For the past third of its existence, it has survived under the ownership of parent corporations:

- Marion Mallory Sr. received patents for inventions in the automotive field in 1916, initially under his own name, then as Mallory Research Co. His inventions concerned electrical systems, shock absorbers, internal combustion systems, ignition coils and timers, governors, air-inlet devices and carburetors, among others. for years, Mallory was second only to Thomas Edison in patent holdings. Many of the patents were licensed to other companies, while others were incorporated into product of the company Mallory formed in Toledo, Ohio.

- Marion Mallory Sr. incorporated Mallory Electric Corp. on Feb. 13, 1925.

- Mallory was a close friend of Henry Ford and worked with him to design the ignition system of the 1932 Ford V-8. Mallory Electric provided much of the original equipment ignition parts to Ford Motor Co. until 1948, when Ford began manufacturing some systems. Mallory still builds ignitions for Ford Motor Co.

- In August 1935, Mallory moved the company to Detroit.

- Mallory remained the company's president until retiring in 1959., when he left the entire company to his son, Marion "Boots" Mallory Jr.

- In January 1964, Mallory Electric acquired Sig Erson Cams, maker of specialized high-performance cams and valve trains.

- Boots Mallory began moving the company to Carson City in 1969. The entire company was soon located at 1801 Oregon Street. Boots Mallory later persuaded the city to rename the street Mallory Way.

- In 1973, Mallory added a 13,000-square-foot expansion, the first of several.

- W.R. Grace Inc., a large industrial supplier, purchased Mallory Electric in 1976, with Boot Mallory remaining as president.

- Marion "Boots" Mallory Jr. died in 1978.

- W.R. Grace, which also owned Mr. Gasket, started a marine product division that combined the marine products from Mr. Gasket and Mallory.

- Mallory Electric was sold to Super Shops Inc., a performance auto products retailer, in 1981. Super Shops continues to build on the company's name, adding a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in 1983 and a 40,000-square-foot machine shop in 1989. Facilities has reached the 124,500-square-foot total that exists today.

- In April 1995, Super Shops owner Henry Eberlin opened a new auto parts distribution company based in Carson City, Automotive Specialty Accessory Parts or ASAP, at 580 Mallory Way. As many as 120 people eventually would work at ASAP.

- On Dec. 27, 1996, Eberlin issued a memo announcing ASAP would cease operations in two to three months. The recent efforts to sell Super Shops and ASAP have been unsuccessful. ASAP shut down after less than two years of operations, but Mallory and Erson products still rolled off the lines at 550 Mallory Way under the protection of bankruptcy proceedings.

- On April 22, 1998, Mallory Ignition (and its Erson product line) was bought out of bankruptcy by by Echlin Inc., which then owned Mr. Gasket. Mallory and Erson were again rolled into the Mr. Gasket Co. Performance Group.

- In July 1998, Echlin merged with diversified automotive component manufacturer Dana Corp. The Mr. Gasket lines were reorganized with manufacturing of the Hurst Shifter and Accel lines and moved to Carson City. Production of Hayes clutch products, Lakewood transmission bell housings and other Mr. Gasket products remained in Cleveland, Ohio, along with Mr. Gasket's corporate offices. The two locations employed about 360 people.

- On June 26, 2000, Dana announced plans to sell the Mr. Gasket operations. No potential buyer has been announced.