The company that Ransom E. Olds founded in 1897 was the most important auto manufacturer of the early domestic auto industry. Olds had been experimenting with automobiles for a decade, having built his first car in 1887! In 1899 the lumber baron Samuel Smith purchased the company, investing about $200,000, which allowed him to provide employment for his two idiot sons who had just finished college. (How could this go wrong?)
Ransom Olds was able to focus on experimenting and inventing, but the next year or two resulted in very little vehicle production. On March 9, 1901, Olds Motor Works was a ravaged by a fire; however one vehicle was rescued from the flames, a single-cylinder, 7hp curved dash model.
The First Mass Produced Automobile
The curved dash and a handful of other, similar, lightweight and low cost models allowed Olds Motor Works to thrive. The company advertised well and conducted some inspired attention-getting demonstrations. The Smiths seemed to think that there would be more money in higher-priced cars, a feeling that Ransom Olds did not share. Consequently, he left the company in January, 1904. An assembly line was used to manufacture the early Olds models, which was uncommon at this time. This was not a moving assembly line, something that Ford would later introduce.
Nobody is Buying Our High-Priced Cars!
Old man Smith knew lumber, but I get the distinct feeling that he and his two progeny didn’t know squat about automobiles. Their high priced models weren’t selling well, and the smaller, less expensive models were not being marketed aggressively. In December, 1908 the Smiths sold Olds Motor Works to William Durant, founder of General Motors.
REO
Yes, as in “Speedwagon”. Ransom Olds formed REO(Idahoans – Ransom Eli Olds) in 1905 and it was an immediate success, even reaching third place in the industry in 1907. The Smith contingent back at Olds Motor Works were pissed beyond all belief that Olds was using the name ‘Olds’! He did not sell them the right to his initials, so he happily marketed his vehicles under ‘REO’.
