The Autolite® story began in 1911, when two small companies started manufacturing buggy lamps, becoming a thriving automotive parts manufacturer in the 1930s. But its history as a spark plug manufacturer began in 1935, when Royce G. Martin, President of the Electric Autolite Company, equipped and staffed a laboratory to develop the first Autolite spark plug. Leading the project was Robert Twells, a ceramic engineer, who enthusiastically researched current patents and ceramic insulator technology. With a handful of new draftsmen and staff members, it took only a few months for the Electric Autolite Company to have a spark plug available for distribution. Autolite was an immediate success, with the brand supplying spark plugs and other parts to such well-known automotive leaders as Chrysler, Studebaker, Packard and Willys.