The Mallory Super-Mag

So a friend of mine dropped by my office the other day with a vintage Mallory box tucked under his arm. Inside was an old magneto protected by its original packaging and wrapped with it’s original spec sheet. It was labeled as a Mallory Super-Mag made in and around the mid-to-late 1950’s. My buddy got it in trade sometime in the early 1960’s and it has sat in the box ever since. Neither of us know a damned thing about it.

I’ve seen a handful of Super-Mags in the past, but they were (I guess) later versions of more typical size. This thing is huge – probably 25% larger than you would expect – and features a crab style cap. From appearance alone, I’m guessing this unit was manufactured for an overhead Ford, but I’m not certain.

In fact, I’m not certain of anything I’m looking at here… And was hoping one of you fellas would be.

What in the hell has my pal got here? Some kind of early mag obviously, but what’s it good for?