E3 Spark Plugs News

Couch and footstools made from a 1959 Cadillac by Vintage Vending.

If you’re a bona fide auto buff with new digs to decorate (or old ones that need some serious makeover mojo) E3 Spark Plugs has a few interior decorating ideas you’ll love. Turns out old cars never die. Many of them get new lives as fabulous furniture pieces. Here are a few of our favorites (check out the gallery below for photos):

1959 Cadillac Car Couch: A company called Vintage Vending created this gorgeous and quite comfy-looking couch from the back quarter of a ’59 Caddy. Normally, cars-turned-couches feature seating inside the trunk space with taillight fins facing forward and are made so that the back of the couch faces the wall. This one was made just the opposite. It features taillight fins on the back of the couch, with the seating facing the opposite direction. So, unlike most, this couch can sit in the middle of a spacious room and look great from either side.

GMC Truck Bed: California artists Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurente created this piece of rustic glory from an old GMC truck. The hood forms the headboard and the grill makes a great looking footboard. Those posts are made from oxy-acetylene tanks used in welding. And check out the vintage gas pump-turned-storage chest.

Seatbelt Chair: One incredibly talented design student at the University of Cincinnati created this black and white chair made from reclaimed seat belts and steel truss he found in a local junkyard. Minimalist, elegant and definitely durable. Spruce it up with a colorful seatbelt throw pillow by TING, a London- and Los Angeles-based design firm specializing in home items and accessories made from salvaged materials.

Trunk Tables: Dallas-based Weld House makes the coolest modern tables, armoires, beds, desks, even mail boxes and art pieces using reclaimed steel plates. These typically are the hoods and trunk lids of 1950s-1980s junked cars and trucks with metal surfaces that have been “weathered and worn to a beautiful mixture of solid color and patina,” the company’s website says.

Tire Loungers: Two chairs made from tires caught our eye. One, an ultra modern ergonomic piece by Ludovic Peperstraete, kind a looked like a lounging cartoon skeleton at first glance but we quickly saw the comfort potential. But it was the massive Easy Chair type piece made from overlapping layers of tire strips that we really love. We have no idea who designed it or who might have one in their living room or mancave. But we want one just like it.

Engine Coffee Table: You can bet that if you order an engine coffee table like the one made from a vintage Jaguar V12 by the UK’s Dave Clark Designs, the shipping alone will be pretty pricey. But you’ll have some serious bragging rights, too.

Spark Plug Dancers: Of course, you’ve got to have something decorative to display on your engine table besides your favorite beer mug. Might we suggest the delightful dancing couple sculpture by artist Dick Cooley, better known as the Spark Plug Guy? Note to self, we’ve gotta send this guy a big ol’ box of E3 spark plugs.

Got more great furniture pieces made from car parts? Post a pic on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

Powerful spark plug bugs take on villainous Venus fly traps in artist Caroline F. Kearns' work.

We always knew spark plugs were the real power players under the hood. But artist Caroline F. Kearns’ work puts a whole new spin on it. Inspired by mechanical and technological devices and themes, Kearns has created a series of prints, paintings and sculptures that feature spark plugs as dragon flies battling their natural nemesis – the Venus fly trap.

A reoccurring theme in Kearns’ work is the supposed struggle between the natural world and technology. The villain is the Venus fly trap in Kearns’ spark plug-inspired series. But her work often combines mechanical and technological elements featuring human qualities with the monsters and heroes of Greek mythology.

“In these pieces, the pseudo-technological creatures are slain by the usual Greek heroes who remain vulnerably human,” says Kearns, who studied printmaking and ceramic sculpture at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. “Such monsters appear in our modern myths when we are confronted by a menacing technology which has surpassed us in strength and intelligence. The resolution of this conflict demands that we artistically engage these monsters in order to regain control of technology for the continued benefit of our society.”

One particularly interesting series depicts the mythic battle between Perseus and Medusa and makes use of a distributor cap and sparkplug wires to form Medusa’s head. Other works feature mechanical components including spark plugs, distributor caps, and exhaust headers playfully or humorously animating technological themes.

Interested in Kearns’ pieces? Check out her website and tell her E3 Spark Plugs sent you.

You can bet we here at E3 Spark Plugs are headed to the theatres for "Fast Five" this weekend!

Gearheads across America (and worldwide, for that matter, including a few of us here at E3 Spark Plugs) have a dilemma today. Wives and girlfriends have tens of thousands of us tied to the TV for worldwide coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding. It’s like a week-long chick flick. Mind you, we love our women or we wouldn’t willingly suffer through the media’s matrimonial overload with them. And we truly do wish Wills and his new bride the best. He a regular-guy kind of cool and she’s a babe. But a gearhead can only take so much. And E3 Spark Plugs has the answer: “Fast Five,” baby!

That’s right, the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson-powered IMAX installment of Universal Pictures’ “The Fast and the Furious” film series hits American theater screens today. This time around, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel) to pull off one last job in an attempt to get their freedom back. The team reassembles in Rio de Janeiro for their one shot at confronting the ruthless drug lord who wants them dead. Meanwhile, die-hard federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is hot on their trail. Trouble is, sometime during his strike team’s all-out assault, Hobbs gets the feeling that the lines between the good guys and the bad are blurred. Now, he’s gotta rely on his instincts to corner his prey – before someone else runs them down first.

“Fast Five” is the first of the series to be released in IMAX. It’s two hours and ten minutes of fast cars, fiery crashes, fist fights and fine women. If all that wedding watching has your testosterone levels depleted, this’ll get your swagger back.

E3 Spark Plugs wants to know what you think of “Fast Five.” Leave us a blog comment or post on our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

Blues legend Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" was one of few recordings released in his lifetime.

In one of his all-time greatest hits, Country crooner Randy Travis balked at the lyrical love language of city slickers, declaring salty ocean water and fall-prone stars unworthy testaments to a good ol’ boy’s romantic emotions. Yet much to our chagrin, Travis’ AMA winner failed to mention the love-inducing power of the spark plug among the snowflakes, Whippoorwills and Southland hollers. Thankfully, the appeal of a shiny new spark plug is not lost on the minds of a number of other songwriters and singers. E3 Spark Plugs offers this list of six great spark plug-loving tunes, from Country to Rap to Blues to comedic Folk to the creepiest Bluegrass you’ve ever heard.

“Terraplane Blues” by Blues legend Robert Johnson. Recorded in 1936 and later covered by Foghat, this song makes the famous Terraplane model a metaphor for love-making – quite the bold move in Johnson’s day. It was one of only a handful of Johnson’s recordings released during his lifetime.

I’m gon’ get down in this connection, oh well, keep on tanglin’ with these wires. And when I mash down on your little starter, then your spark plug will give me fire…

“There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong with the Radio” by Aaaron Tippin. Ever try to sell a car with that line? Singer Aaron Tippin sold a few million albums with it. The song became his first No. 1 country hit.

She needs a carbuerator, a set of plug wires. She’s riding me around on four bald tires. The wipers don’t work and the horn won’t blow, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong with the radio…

“Nobody Does it Better,” by late rap artist Nate Dogg and Warren G. Born Nathaniel Hale, Nate Dogg lived the fast life, contributing to more than 40 music chart singles but racking up a hailstorm of legal and health woes. He passed away earlier this year.

They call me DJ and the spark plug, keepin’ it licked. There is no accident for these platinum hits…

“Chainsaw Charlie” by Angry Johnny and the Killbilles. We guess you can’t blame a guy for a love-gone-wrong song that involves a pickle jar filled with formaldehyde when he comes from a place called Killville, Massachusetts.

She’s leaving on the 10:05, tomorrow morning it’ll be too late. Maybe it’s the spark plug, or the gas he siphoned from his daddy’s truck, but that Poulan won’t cooperate. It looks like Charlie might be out of luck…

“The 12 Elan” by Buddy Wassisname & the Other Fellers. This trio combines Canadian folk music and rubber-faced comedy ala Jim Carrey, and are in dire need of a set of E3 snowmobile spark plugs.

Her hood is stitched with wire, and her windshield is tied on. Her spark plug runs on the lighting coil, she’s wired up all wrong! I taped a flashlight on her hood because the headlight’s gone. And the muffler bolts are all stripped out, and the track is stretched too long!

“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything,” by Relient K. It’s the title song of the first theatrically released computer animated film distributed by Universal Studios. A 18th century pirate crew of zany vegetable characters experience high seas adventures, dinner theatre and barbecue sauce.

“And I’ve never licked a spark-plug and I’ve never sniffed a stink bug and I’ve never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball. And I’ve never bathed in yogurt and I don’t look good in leggings and I’ve never been to Boston in the fall…

Know any other songs with spark plugs lyrics? Let us know. Post a comment on our blog or, better yet, post a video on our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

"Two Cadillacs and a Dog" by artist Nicola Wood.

If you’re an auto buff and an arts connoisseur, E3 Spark Plugs suggests checking out the Automotive Fine Arts Society. Founded in 1983 the AFAS is comprised of an exclusive group of the world’s top automotive artists who work in various mediums including oil, watercolors, acrylics, wood, gouache, pen and ink, and clay and metal. These artists’ works are featured at select shows nationwide such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

A few of E3 Spark Plugs‘ favorites:

• Art Fitzpatrick, who began his career in 1937 designing four-door Darrin Packards, before going into automotive advertising. He’s best known for dramatically transforming Pontiac’s image with the Pontiac Wide Track advertising campaign art he created from 1959-1971, driving Pontiac sales from 7th place to 3rd place. Look for his name in the consultant credits on Disney/PIXAR’s animated film “Cars.”
• John Francis Marsh, a world-renowned industrial designer and artist who jump-started his career while still in high school, submitting model cars to the GM Fisher Body Craftsman Guild Scholarship contest. Today, he offers industrial design services via his Marsh Design Office and teaches industrial design at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
• Niles Nakoaka, a Hawaiian-born, self-taught artist whose watercolor paintings often are created using up to 30 layers depending on shades of transparency. He’s a contributing artist for Road & Track magazine and exhibits his art each year at Pebble Beach.
• Richard Pietruska, whose dynamic sculptures capture the dramatic, fluid motion of fast-driving, exotic automobiles of the past and present. He is a highly respected professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and many of his former students are the leading automotive designers in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
• Natalia Wood, whose entered the automotive arts world in 1981 after spotting a 1959 Cadillac with a license plate that read “VADAR.” Born in Great Crosby England, she developed a preoccupation with the United States while “going to pictures” as a kid and falling hard for screen icons like James Dean, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, and Marilyn Monroe. Great American cars, particularly the “tail finned monsters of the Sixties” are prominent fixtures in many of her paintings, pencil and ink pieces.
• Gary Whinn, a former graphic designer who works predominantly in acrylic and pastel with a focus on nostalgic themes. He always includes people in his paintings to help to portray his personal view of automobiles as “an integral part of the backdrop in the everyday drama of life.”

Do you have a favorite automotive artist? E3 Spark Plugs wants to know. Leave a comment on our blog or post an image on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

Spark plug dragon fly by Heather Solberg

Heather Solberg’s spark plug critters are as cute as can be. And they’re pretty easy to make if you’ve got a little creativity and know your way around a blow torch. Solberg’s spark plug critter-making was borne of a love of arts and crafts projects and pure boredom.

“When I started dating my husband, he would spend a lot of time in his workshop working on various projects so I started poking around looking for something to keep me busy,” she says. “I noticed some used spark plugs sitting around thought, ‘that would make a cute dragon fly.’”

In a moment’s time, Solberg was off on a mission. She found a discarded wire hanger and used a pair of needle nose pliers to bend pieces of it to resemble wings and feet. She’d never used a welding torch before, so she recruited her then-boyfriend’s help in welding the hanger-wire wings and feet onto the sparkplug and Voila – a dragon fly was born! So excited was Solberg about her new creation that she quickly came up with a few more designs, including a spark plug fish, a spark plug gator and a tiny spark plug biplane.

“It kept me busy and turned out being something we could have fun working on together,” Solberg says. “At least I thought it was fun. My husband probably preferred to work on other projects but since we had just started dating, he was pretty willing to help out.”

Solberg posted her spark plug creations on Etsy.com, an ecommerce website for the artsy-crafty set and a customer quickly claimed her spark plug gator, adorned with a set of screw legs and a pair of screw-head eyeballs (which she cut using a grinder). Meanwhile, love dallied among the dragon flies and other spark plug critters. Heather and her blow torch-wielding honey are happily married and off on a two-year honeymoon to Asia, but she’s got a box full of discarded spark plugs waiting for her return to the U.S. Perhaps a few of them be transformed into a parade of Chinese dragons?!

What can you make out of a spark plug? We’d love to see. Leave a comment with your story or post a pic of your spark plug creation on our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

$36,500 Renault F1 chess set

Here at E3 Spark Plugs, we’re about energy, ecology and efficiency in your drive, whether it’s the family sedan, your weekend muddin’ truck or the sleek, strong racecar you’re hoping will win big at the tracks. But we’re always amazed at those who see a simple spark plug as a thing of artistic value. And this time, we’ve found some of the coolest spark plug art we’ve seen. Chess, anyone?

Artist Armando Ramirez has designed two chess sets that will make any auto buff proud to own. Each of the boards and game pieces are made using scrap metal including leftover metal pieces from a die machine; cogs, bearings and Bendix caps from auto electrical systems; screws; and, of course, spark plugs. The first, titled “Recycling Challenge” features kings, pawns and horses made from automotive cogs, queens made from cogs and bearings, and bishops made with spark plugs and towers from cogwheels. The chessboard is made using a metal sheet resting on a platform made of ornate iron wires and Bendix caps. It retails for $176.95.

Where the “Recycling Challenge” chess set is designed to have a rough finish and can feature smudges and scratches, his “Rustic Warriors” chess set has a more polished look. Spark plugs again do battle as bishops. Pawns are made of heavy boots and sprockets. Each piece has a solid and study feel.  And the tiered chessboard makes a clanging sound. Retail will set you back $492.95, but both sets are available at steep discounts from Novica.com, which sells unique works by artists and artisans around the world in association with National Geographic.

Now, a little something for the big ballers: Formula 1 auto racing may not have quite the fan base in the U.S. that it does everywhere else on the globe, but you can’t help but want one of these. The Renault F1 chess set features a chessboard made of the same carbon fiber used to make F1 cars and chess pieces made from assorted parts of F1 car wings, hubs, uprights, cockpits and suspensions. Materials used include leather, stainless steel and titanium. It’s hands-down the sleekest, baddest chess set you’ll ever own – that is, if you can afford the $36,511 price tag. Unfortunately, the website that sells it appears to be down right now. We’ll let you know if it pops back up. Meanwhile, save your pennies. Better yet, why not create your own chess set using your old E3 spark plugs and other trash-bound stuff cluttering your garage. Just be sure to post a photo our E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.

This just might be the strangest E3 Spark Plugs blog entry we’ve posted thus far. With everyone here at the E3 headquarters itching to ditch work early for the opening of  Disney’s “Tron” tonight, we got to thinking about all the great motorcycle movies we’ve seen. Then, we got to wondering if any of those films paid tribute to the trusty spark plug. After all, if a motorcycle was a blockbuster movie, the spark plug might be the great script. Turns out, the spark plug doesn’t get much respect from scriptwriters, which we think is a cinematic shame. But we did find a few oddly amusing spark plug script cameos.

The earliest spark plug cameo we find in filmdom is in the 1930 Cecil B. DeMille flick “Madame Satan” which, incidentally, was released on DVD this month. The legendary Hollywood director/producer was best known for biblical epics like the 1923 and 1956 versions of The Ten Commandments” and 1952′s melodramatic Oscar winner “The Greatest Show on Earth.” But Madame Satan, a romantic musical comedy, was a bit of an experimental project, it seems. The film stars Kay Johnson as a wife who learns her husband is having an affair with a singer. So she dresses as “Madame Satan” and foots it to a lavish costume ball in a vamped-up attempt to lure her husband back into her arms.

So where do the spark plugs come in? That would be in the sci-fi-esque “Ballet Mechanique,” lead by the Spirit of Electricity and featuring a group of dancers dressed as spark plugs. The $1 million production was the most expensive at the MGM studios that year, but the unfortunately timed film fizzled at the box office in the midst of a backlash against musicals. Click below for a look at the rather bizarre-but-mesmerizing number.

The spark plug’s next cameo comes in the 1957 British noir classic “Hell Drivers,” which opens with actor Stanley Baker, described as a “long-jawed, macho Morrissey type,” picking up a spark plug and kissing it. His character, Tom Yately, is an ex-con looking to leave his ne’er do well ways behind and begin anew. He lands a job hauling gravel for Hawlett Trucking, an aggressive company that places speed far higher on the priority list than employee safety. Tom’s competitive side kicks in when he decides to go head-to-head with Red, a veteran driver who logs 18 runs a day. As expected, Red’s cronies bow up against Tom and it all goes downhill when Tom’s friend and fellow driver Gino is killed in an accident, blowing the cover on corporate corruption. We hear the race scenes are awesome.

The most recent spark plug mention we turned up is in “Four Lions,” a comedy about terrorism. Yes, you read that correctly – a comedy about terrorism. With tongue firmly in cheek, Indie director Chris Morris set out to make what has been described as “the Three Stooges of Jihad.” Except there are four of them: working-class young Brits who meet in secret to plan suicide bombings but have trouble deciding what to bomb. Hilarity ensues, packed with laughter-inducing jabs that ought not to be funny, including a scene wherein the would-be jihadists’ car breaks down.

“It’s the parts. They’re Jewish,” says one knucklehead character.

Um. Which parts?

“The spark plugs. Jews invented spark plugs to control global traffic.”

Says one “Four Lions” reviewer, “As an audience member, you’re stuck. The subject would not seem to be funny in any way. Terrorism is clearly a serious matter. Yet, funny is funny and you laugh despite yourself. After all, with the Times Square car bomber, who locked his keys in the car, and after the underwear bomber, you begin to see that not everyone involved is a Ph.D.”

“Four Lions” is making the film festival circuit and was nominated for five British Independent Film Awards as well as the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize.

Frankly, we’re not sure what to make of a few of these spark plug mentions. But as aspiring young actors say, “parts is parts,” or something like that. We’re just glad to see the trusty spark plug land a few bit parts on the big screen. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “performance spark plugs.” Seen any of these movies? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Ever heard of a dancing spark plug? Perhaps if you’re a Detroit Pistons fan. The NBA team just announced formation of the new Spark Plugs Junior Dance Team, slated to perform at four home games this season and sure to add some real spark to the Pistons’ entertainment lineup.

Auditions for the Detroit Pistons' new Spark Plugs Junior Dance Team happen January 4.

The Spark Plugs will feature young dancers performing high-energy, hip hop style dances to help pump up the crowds of more than 22,000 fans who fill the Palace stands at each Pistons home game. Likely consisting of 16 members, the Spark Plugs will join an already exciting entertainment lineup that includes the beautiful women of the Automotion Dance Team; the Pistons Drumline; the Flight Crew, a high-flying acrobatic trampoline dunk team; and the Power Plant, a group of the 50 most loyal and animated Pistons fans – not to be confused with the Spare Tires, a dance team of the Piston’s biggest (in the literal sense) fans.

Is your son or daughter a talented dancer and sports fanatic with enough spunk to handle performing for huge crowds? A Junior Dance Team clinic and audition for the Spark Plugs is set for Tuesday, January 4, 2011. Auditions are open to both female and male dancers who were between the ages of seven and 14 by June 30, 2010. Registration begins at 3:30 p.m., but applicants are encouraged to complete an online registration form or email Dance Team Director Rebecca Girard at rgirard@palacenet.com, providing name, address, age and phone number prior to the event. Make sure your young hoofer wears workout or dance attire and brings a non-returnable photo. Enter through the Palace of Auburn Hills’ West Atrium and be prepared to wait. Depending on the number of applicants, the clinic could go as late as 10 p.m. Feel free to bring snacks and a good book.

E3 Spark Plugs says “good luck” to all the Spark Plugs Junior Dance Team competitors. If your kid makes the team, let us know. Leave a comment or post a pic on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.

People collect the zaniest things from Pez dispensers to vintage Zippo lighters to toilet seats. And Joe Cook just might be king among spark plug collectors. His New Jersey basement museum collection boasts more than 2,400 spark plugs plus an exhausting amount of spark plug-related items including copies of more than 5,000 early patents, letterheads and envelopes from various spark plug companies, and marketing and promotional items. Over the century and a half that spark plugs have been around, they’ve been packaged in lead, wax and wax paper, wooden containers and decorative tins and accompanied by promotional items such as decals, matchbook covers, glassware and posters depicting Old Hollywood starlets. Cook has many of them.

Spark plug collector Joe Cook holds promotional photos of Old Hollywood starlets once used to help market sparkplugs.

“I originally started restoring antique tractors and Hit & Miss (open flywheel) engines,” says Joe when asked what inspired his spark plug collection. “As I was restoring them, I noticed some interesting spark plugs in them. I was intrigued by them so I removed them, cleaned them up and put them on the shelf. Pretty soon I had about a dozen or so and I thought I must have all the different types that there were.”

Feeling proud of his dozen-strong collection, Joe attended an antique tractor and engine show where fate stepped in – in the form of a fellow antique spark plug collector displaying 50 of them on a table. He informed Joe that there were more than 6,500 manufacturers of early spark plugs and told him of the Spark Plug Collectors of America. Joe joined and quickly climbed the leadership ranks while continuing to build his collection. Many of his spark plugs came into the collection in interesting, even amazing ways.

“My son, Peter, and I were scuba diving in the Bahamas. As we were swimming along the coral reef, I spotted something and stopped and picked it up and put it in my dive pouch,” Joe says. “When we surfaced, my son asked me, ‘What did you stop and pick up?’ I opened my pouch and showed him a spark plug all encrusted in coral. He said, ‘Only you could find a spark plug 80 feet underwater amongst all the sea shells. That’s a one in a million chance!’  Well, on the very next dive I found a second one!”

If you’re feeling inspired to start your own spark plug collection, you’re in luck. Turns out, your collection starter might be only as far away as your granddad’s garage.

A coral-encrusted spark plug plucked from the bottom of the ocean on Bahamas diving trip. Seriously - could you have spotted the plug?

Back in the day, “Every corner gas station made and sold plugs, usually in their local area as they did not have the network to distribute them nationwide, let alone worldwide,” Joe explains. “And everyone had an idea on how to make a plug that would not foul. This is what makes collecting so interesting. Another point to remember is the early spark plugs were re-buildable. When the plug wore out, you could take the plug apart and replace the core and have a ‘good as new’ plug for a fraction of what a complete new plug cost. This is also why there are so many antique plugs still around. No one threw them out. When they were removed, they usually got put on the shelf to be rebuilt. Many plugs are found in old garages and barns just sitting on a shelf waiting to be rebuilt or reused.”

Joe takes portions of his collection on the road to antiques, tractor and auto shows, schools, retirement homes and annual SPCOA meetings. He remains a member of the organization’s Board of Directors and is a former co-editor and vice president. And while he loves his collection, it’s the collecting that’s the most meaningful.

“I have been a mechanic all my life. A spark plug to me used to be the final point of ignition in an engine,” he says. “But now that I have retired and collect them, a spark plug to me is a thing of mechanical beauty, pure joy and fascination and most importantly, a means to an end – The end being the camaraderie of my fellow club members as we share the joys of finding a new addition to our beloved hobby!”

Got a spark plug or related item you’d like to share with Joe? Reach him at joe.ignitor@gmail.com. Tell him E3 Spark Plugs sent you.