History Remembering Sparkomatic...

Sparkomatic:

No, not the late 1970's stereo equipment they use to sell. This thread is dedicated to the early years of the company. The 1960's shifters, tachometers, gauges, traction bars, wire looms, etc., that was available for hot rodders.

I've collected and restored a few Sparkomatic items over the last few years and would consider them rare. This off-brand was cheaper in price and often in quality. But they had cool 1960's styling to them, and some of the designs and products they offered were quite innovative for the time.

Share your pictures, stories, memories, praises, and or complaints of this bygone company... Sparkomatic.

Lots more pictures and information to come... stay tuned.

 

I bought a Sparkomatic shifter for my '53 Ford in about '66 from a store called White Front in San Bernardino. It had a bad habit of trying to engage first and second at the same time. The result would spit the cluster gear out the bottom of the case. I removed it and threw it as far as I could.

 

I put a Sparkomatic floor shifter in my first car, a '51 Chevy 235 babbit beater. I think I bought the shifter from Almquist. It worked good.The knob was clear green plastic and looked something like a yo-yo. High school cool!

 

I bought a Sparkomatic shifter for my 59 Ford at Seat Cover Charley's in Indianapolis in 66.

 

Similar to this?

 

I had a shifter in a Chev 3 speed.It was not of good quality

 

I worked for Kragen Auto Supply in the late '70's where we sold Sparkomatic stereos. Like most of the junk we sold, it was cheap and middle-of-the-road in quality.

 

Yup! Exactly.

Speed-shifting with my Sparkomatic shifter, I broke the 19 second barrier in the quarter mile at Atco Dragway!!

 

Here's an old Almquist receipt I saved from 1963 when I bought a flatty 296 stroker kit.

 

Like most speed equipment companies of the time, they had wild claims. "Fastest Drag Shift Made!" This from the box of my 1965 Sparkomatic Super Shifter. You would not get away with claims like this today unless it was substantiated.

 

Had one of their 3-speed shifters in my stock car, worked ok, never had any problems with it. Of course the quality was middle of the road. After that sold transmission & shifter to a friend that put it in a Chevy pick-up truck who wore the truck out with it. Bought mine at a place called Rocky's Automotive who was later bought out by Nationwise / Rod Shops.

 

think i got one of them with the wood handle had it priced at $35 for swap meets, did not sell yet!!!

 

I installed a Spark-O-Matic shifter in my '57 Chevy in '66. Bought it at TG&Y in Oklahoma City. As I recall it was a little hard to get fine tuned but once in it was a tough shifter that took my teen abuse without any problems.
It lasted through me and another teen before the car gave up the ghost!

 

The "Roller Shifter" automatic inline pattern. Cool holes in the shifter handle.

(A few extra mouse clicks on the ads will blow them up fully to read clearly.)

 

One more for tonite. The Custom X.

(A few extra mouse clicks on the ads will blow them up fully to read clearly.)

 

My coupe still has the wood handle Sparkomatic in it and it works very well.

 

here is a couple photos of my Sparkomatic 3 speed floor shifter. I guess I's better fill out that warranty card and get it in the mail!

 

Sparkomatic "Slim Line" gauges. These were new for 1965! Very small... only 6" long 4"deep 1.5" tall. I had to make replacement side wood pieces as they were gone when I got it.

 

Sparkomatic had a poor reputation but their radio worked well for me for many years

 

Tell that to the people who make the "Tornado fuel saver"

 

I bought a Sparkomatic in '62 for my '54 high school Ford. Never had any problem with it, and it was a big deal with many of my friends, as floor shifts were just becoming very popular.

 

I bought a Sparkomatic shifter from a friend in about 1965, installed it in the driveway and being a dumb young college kid installed it with the transmission shift levers upside down, so the shift pattern was flipped. I can't remember if I fixed that or not but I used it until about 69 or 70 when I put a four speed in it. It had a wood knob that was similar to the green plastic knob shown in an earlier pic. It worked as good as I could row it. Wish I had it to hang on the wall with the other garage art I have.

 

I didn't know that even existed until now...

One hell of a gimmick product. Ranks right up there with Prolong Oil additive and Split Fire spark plugs.

Yeah... even today some companies do make some wild claims.

 

Sold a pile of Spark-o-matic back in the 70's early 80's. Has'nt been on my mind at all.....til now! peace

 

Had a Sparkomatic shifter in my '53 F-100...Was in it when I blught, worked great and was still there when I sold it (dumb move)

 

owned a couple of the cheapest spark-o-matic shifters-the shift handle was 1/2 rod ,threaded both ends.after some abuse the rod would always break off where it threaded into the shifter.the quick fix was to unscrew the knob,turn the rod upside down and keep driving.the problem was you couldnt get enough electrical tape wrapped around the broken[now top] end to save your hand.

 

I don't know if it was real or just a perception but my memory is that sparkomatic was used as a synonym for cheap copy cat parts. It might have been a perception because I always avoided their stuff so I have no real experience with their stuff but it was a popular opinion in my area.

 

What he said...

 

Here's a couple more Sparkomatic shifter ads. Check out that deluxe console!