Everything about Delco Electronics totally explained
Delco Electronics Corporation was the automotive
electronics design and manufacturing subsidiary of
General Motors.
The name
Delco came from the
Dayton
Engineering
Laboratories
Co., founded in
Dayton, Ohio by
Charles Kettering and
Edward A. Deeds. The "AC" often seen in front of the name are the initials of Albert Champion, a pioneer in the development of the
spark plug. He made the change during his tenure at
General Motors, after they took over Delco.
Delco was responsible for several innovations in automobile electric systems, including the first reliable
battery ignition system and the first practical
automobile self starter.
History
Initially Kettering and Deeds were co-workers at
National Cash Register Company (along with
Thomas J. Watson Sr., the future general manager of
IBM). Kettering and Deeds had a lifelong professional relationship and friendship.
In 1904 Deeds hired Kettering at NCR to motorize the cash register.
In around
1908, Deeds asked for help with a car he was building from a kit. Working in one of Deeds' barns with spare-time help from
William A. Chryst and other NCR friends, Kettering developed a high-energy spark ignition system to replace the weak-spark model supplied with the kit. Leaving NCR in 1909, Kettering focused on final development of this
ignition set and demonstrations were favorably received. In 1909 when
Henry Leland of
Cadillac ordered 5,000 ignition sets, Deeds and Kettering formed the Dayton Engineering Laboratories company. The ignition system was introduced on the 1910 Cadillac.
(External Link
).
In 1911 Kettering invented and filed for for the first useful electric starter, adapted from a cash register motor. The starters were first installed by
Cadillac on production models in 1912.
In
1912, NCR company was found guilty of violating the
Sherman Antitrust Act. Deeds and 27 other NCR executives and managers were convicted for illegal anti-competitive sales practices and were sentenced to one year of imprisonment. Their convictions were unpopular with the public due to their efforts to help those affected by the
Dayton, Ohio floods of
1913, but efforts to have them pardoned by President
Woodrow Wilson were unsuccessful. However, their convictions were overturned on appeal in 1915 on the grounds important defense evidence should have been admitted.
In 1915 Deeds left NCR to devote himself full-time to Delco.
At the time, one of Kettering's widely-known inventions was the
Delco-Light, a small internal combustion generator with battery intended to provide a source of electric ilumination and mechanical power to rural residents (mostly farmers) who were not yet connected to the nacent electrical grid system.
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The Delco brand name was associated with original production units of the company such as Delco Light, Delco Products, Delco Moraine and others.
In 1916 Deeds, Kettering, &
Harold E. Talbott took over the
Orville Wright Company renaming it the
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company.
During
World War I the Delco plant in
Moraine, Ohio was expanded to manufacture the
DeHavilland DH.4 bomber, the only American-built airplane to see action in
World War I. More than 3,000 were built in Moraine for the
Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. Delco was also one of those that produced the
Liberty engine.
In 1919 United Motors Company (a predecessor of
General Motors) acquired Delco, Dayton-Wright, and the Dayton Metal Products Company.
(External Link). All of these companies were associated with
Charles Kettering,
Edward A. Deeds, and
Harold E. Talbott.
Kettering became vice president of General Motors Research Corporation in
1920. He held the position as head of research for General Motors for 27 years.
Delco merged with
Remy Electric in
1926 to form
Delco-Remy.
In
1936 Delco began producing the first dashboard-installed car
radios. By the early 1970s Delco had become a major supplier of automotive electronics equipment. Based in
Kokomo, Indiana, Delco Electronics employed more than 30,000 at its peak.
In
1962 GM created the General Motors Research Laboratories, based in
Santa Barbara, California, to conduct research and development activities on defense systems. This organization was eventually merged into Delco Electronics and renamed Delco Systems Operations.
In
1985 General Motors purchased
Hughes Aircraft and merged it with Delco Electronics to form
Hughes Electronics Corporation, an independent subsidiary. In
1997 all of the aerospace and defense businesses of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft and Delco Systems Operations) were merged with
Raytheon, and the commercial portion of Delco Electronics was transferred to GM's
Delphi Automotive Systems business. Delphi became a separate publicly-traded company in May 1999, and continued to use the Delco Electronics name for several of its subsidiaries through approximately 2004.
Although Delco Electronics no longer exists as an operating company, GM still retains rights to the Delco name and uses it for some of its subsidiaries including the
ACDelco parts division.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Delco Electronics'.
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