Many of the origin stories of the companies you’re familiar with are interesting. Also, the interplay among the earlier automotive pioneers can be quite bizarre.
Consider:
- William Durant, GM founder, lost his company not once, but twice!
- David Dunbar Buick was arguably a failure in auto manufacturing but developed something unrelated that you may have in your home.
- Louis Chevrolet never designed a successful car, but his name was nonetheless invaluable to William Durant, who owned Chevrolet.
- The Dodge brothers were very successful before they designed a single car.
- Henry Ford was fired from his first auto company because he was more interested in racing than he was manufacturing.
- Pontiac was invented as a companion make for Oakland, but within a few years Oakland was gone and Pontiac thrived.
- Chevrolet Origins
- Buick Origins
- Oldsmobile Origins
- Pontiac Origins
- Ford Companies Origins
- Chrysler Companies Origins
- Packard Origins
