Myron Cottrell was the founder and owner of TPI Specialties, an automobile parts manufacturer, and Cottrell Racing Engines, a machine shop and engine building shop. He is also active in automobile racing, collecting, and restoration.

Business career

Early career

According to the TPI Specialties' official website, Cottrell was an engine builder for twenty years prior to founding the TPIS.

With TPI Specialties

In 1985 Cottrell bought a new

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

and was intrigued to learn how its Tuned Port Injection system worked. After determining that the system could be improved significantly, Cottrell established his company, TPI Specialties, and began building and marketing aftermarket parts kits for

hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

ders. Today TPIS is still owned by Cottrell. The company owns numerous patents and is frequently cited as technical authority in such publications as

Hot Rod Magazine ''Hot Rod'' is a monthly American car magazine devoted to hot rodding, drag racing, and muscle cars—modifying automobiles for performance and appearance. History ''Hot Rod'' is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding, having been published ...

and Car Craft magazine.

Personal life

Cottrell resided in

Chaska, Minnesota Chaska is a city and the county seat of Carver County, Minnesota, United States. An outer ring suburb of the Twin Cities, Chaska is home to the Hazeltine National Golf Club and is known for its historic downtown area located on a bend of t ...

. Myron died at the age of 75 on Dec 29th, 2017.

Automobile racing and collecting

Cottrell is involved in sports car racing. In addition, he has bought and restored or modified a number of notable automobiles. Cars which Cottrell owns or formerly owned include the following: * 1979 AMC Spirit AMX, class winner in the 1979

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

and the first

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

car ever to finish the event. * The Kurtis-Chevy "Zidar Special," a circa mid-50s 2-seat sportscar with a 321 cid Hilborn-injected Chevrolet smallblock V8.

Myron Cottrell’s brother, John Cottrell, bought a 1999

Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Che ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

race car and modified it to make it street legal. In 2006 the car received an appreciative mention from Car Craft Magazine after appearing at the Car Craft Summer Nationals auto show, and in 2006 it was run at

Bonneville Speedway Bonneville Speedway (also known as the Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track) is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats northeast of Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed rec ...

on the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the ...

and achieved a best official speed of 198.155 miles per hour.What's New , TPIS runs at the Bonneville salt flats!
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References