February 2013: A quick review.

7/22/92		25,000		Install Mallory Distributor
5/19/99		138,968		Replace bad condenser (83,737 mi)
6/20/11		238,280		Replace bad condenser (99,312 mi)
12/11/12		247,379		Replace bad condenser (9,099 miles, 18-mos)
2/5/13		247,614		Replace bad condenser (257 miles, 2 mos)

This was going quite well for 20 years and nearly a quarter million miles. Then I had a premature condenser failure in December 2012. Well, it could be a rare fluke. Old stock maybe? No. My records show that condenser was purchased in July 2009, so only 3-1/2 years on my shelf. I had also heard a few reports of failing Mallory condensers. Not being keen on paying $11 a pop for bad condensers, I bought one from O-Riley Auto Parts. This one came in a "generic" white box with no brand name, only the supplier's stock number. Two months and 257 miles later the new Mallory condenser failed, an I installed the generic part. This was accompanied by a big grin, figuring that not buying another Mallory condenser was a good move. The next spare condenser was purchased from Advance Auto bearing part number G120P. The computer said it was a BMW part, but they all look the same to me. So now I'm running on a generic condenser with a BMW part for the traveling spare.

On 2/16/2013 -0700, Ken Roscoe in Sacramento , California, USA wrote:
"Mallory Dual Point Distributor - I'm on my third ignition condenser in 500 miles. I'm using a Lucas sport coil and buying the [Mallory] factory condenser - never had this problem. HELP!".

In light of multiple recent reports like this, I suppose Mallory ran into a production batch of bad parts. My best advice is to avoid Mallory condensers for a few years, by which time the current inventory should be used up (or tossed in the trash if Mallory gets their act together).

Addendum January 2019:
Five years later, just out of curiosity, I tried another new Mallory condenser in October 2017. No joy, as it failed after 5200 miles in just 5-weeks, so back to using generic condensers. Now driving up to 40,000 miles per year, in May 2018 I went back to using the Lucas distributor to have vacuum advance for better fuel economy. The Mallory distributor is now relegated to emergency spare, so I recon I won't have any more long distance reports on this one.