They are getting much more popular and easier to find in New England. (I like 'em because they don't freeze in stored vehicles) V.I.P. and Advance Auto both carry them.
Optima is owned by Interstate. My local mechanic is an Interstate dealer (Marlborough, MA) and will sell me Optima red tops for $120 installed (don't know that he's ever installed one in an F-car, though). I have them for all my cars and swear by them. Even have a blue top driving a battery backup for the radon mitigation fan in my house in case the power goes out! -Gio P
In doing some research on Optima I found this: OPTIMA® Batteries, is a Colorado based company that is proud to be manufacturing a revolutionary product that is rapidly becoming the world wide standard for electrochemical power sources. On November 1, 2000, Johnson Controls, Inc. purchased OPTIMA Batteries, Inc. from the Gylling Group of Scandinavia. Today, Colorado-made OPTIMA batteries are sold and shipped from Denver to dealers and distributors in 60 countries throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and South America. OPTIMA® BATTERIES AND OPTIMA SPIRALCELL® TECHNOLOGY are registered trademarks owned by Johnson Controls, Inc. Johnson Controls is traded on NYSE under the symbol JCI Now Interstate Battery is it's own company and as far as I can tell is privately held and run by some very religious people. http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content/about_us/exec_mgmt/default_mgmt.asp But yet if you look at what automotive batteries Interstate carries, it's Optima. -Michael
