Ransom E. Olds
Encyclopedia
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

, for whom both the Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 and REO
REO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...

 brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car
Steam car
A steam car is a light car powered by a steam engine.Steam locomotives, steam engines capable of propelling themselves along either road or rails, developed around one hundred years earlier than internal combustion engine cars although their weight restricted them to agricultural and heavy haulage...

 as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896. The modern assembly line
Assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...

 and its basic concept is credited to Olds, who used it to build the first mass-produced automobile, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash
Oldsmobile Curved Dash
The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, meaning that it was built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907...

 beginning in 1901.

Early life

Olds was born in Geneva, Ohio
Geneva, Ohio
Geneva is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The area which would become Geneva was originally settled in 1805, and was incorporated as a city in 1958. It is named after Geneva, New York. The city's population was 6,595 at the 2000 census....

, the youngest son of blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 and pattern-maker Pliny Fiske Olds and his wife Sarah Whipple Olds. His parents moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, when Olds was still a boy. He eventually settled in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

, where he married Metta Ursula Woodward on June 5, 1889. He was of English
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....

 ancestry with the first paternal line coming from Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Oldsmobile

He founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

, on August 21, 1897. The company was bought by a copper and lumber magnate named Samuel L. Smith
Samuel L. Smith House
The Samuel L. Smith House is located at 5035 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It was also known as the Schools Annex. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.- History :...

 in 1899 and renamed Olds Motor Works. The new company was relocated from Lansing to Detroit. Smith became President while Olds became vice president and general manager.

In 1901 Olds designed the Curved Dash
Oldsmobile Curved Dash
The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, meaning that it was built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907...

 Oldsmobile which sold for $650.00. It was this car, rather than Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

's Model T, that was the first mass-produced, low-priced American motor vehicle. Although the factory was destroyed by fire that year, the company still sold over 600 models of the Curved Dash. In 1904 sales were up to 5000 units.

As Smith's son, Frederic L. Smith
Frederic L. Smith
Frederic Latta Smith was an American football player and pioneer of the automobile business. He played college football team at the University of Michigan and was the quarterback of the 1888 Michigan Wolverines football team. He later became a pioneer in the automobile business in Michigan...

, came into the business, he and Olds clashed frequently until Fred Smith removed Olds from the position of vice president and general manager in 1904 and Olds left his company. He went on to form the R.E. Olds Motor Car Company. Its name was quickly changed to REO Motor Car Company
REO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...

 to avoid a lawsuit from the Olds Motor Works. The name REO came from the initials of his name as an acronym. Olds served as president (until 1925) and later chairman of REO.

The Olds Motor Works was bought by General Motors in 1908. The Oldsmobile brand, after a production run of 96 years, was discontinued by General Motors in 2004.

Assembly line

Olds was the first person to use the assembly line in the automotive industry. Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

 came after him, and was the first to use a moving assembly line to manufacture cars. This new approach to putting together automobiles enabled him to more than quintuple his factory’s output, from 425 cars in 1901 to 2,500 in 1902.

Racing career

Olds was also famous for his auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

 on the beaches of Florida at Ormond and Daytona
Daytona Beach Road Course
Daytona Beach Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR. It originally became famous as the location where fifteen world land speed records were set...

. He had the first timed run on the beach in a solo run some time between 1894 and 1897. In 1896 or 1897, rich automobile pioneers Olds and Alexander Winton (Winton Motor Carriage Company
Winton Motor Carriage Company
The Winton Motor Carriage Company was a pioneer United States automobile manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Winton was one of the first American companies to sell a motor car.-1896:...

) staged an unofficial event; Winton beat Olds by only 0.20 seconds.

Oldsmar

In 1913, Olds purchased 37,541 acres (152 km²) of land by the northern part of Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

 in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and developed the area into what is now the city of Oldsmar
Oldsmar, Florida
Oldsmar is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,910 at the 2000 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population to be 13,401 as of 2008....

.

Other Lansing businesses

In 1906, Olds organized the Capital National Bank, later called Lansing National Bank, and Michigan National Bank
Michigan National Bank
Michigan National Bank was a bank founded in Lansing, Michigan, which was established on 31 December 1940 when Howard J Stoddard consolidated six Michigan banks: First National Bank and Trust Company of Grand Rapids, First National Trust and Savings Bank of Port Huron, Lansing National Bank,...

. Olds was also involved in the organization of the Michigan Screw Company and Atlas Drop Forge Company, all located in Lansing, Michigan.

Olds was the primary financier of the Olds Tower. When completed in 1931 it was the tallest office building in Lansing, and retains that distinction today. Located at 124 West Allegan Street, the building is now called the Boji Tower
Boji Tower
Boji Tower stands at 124 Allegan Street, in Lansing, Michigan, United States. It has been the tallest building in Lansing, since its completion in 1931.-History:...

.

Olds was also involved in the Hotel Olds located at 111 South Capitol Avenue in Lansing. Today this is known as the George W. Romney
George W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...

 Building, where the office of the Governor of Michigan is located.

Politics

Olds was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, and served as a delegate from Michigan's 6th District to the 1908 Republican National Convention
1908 Republican National Convention
The 1908 Republican National Convention, the fourteenth presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, was held in Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois on June 16 to June 19, 1908. It convened to nominate a successor to the popular GOP President, Theodore Roosevelt...

, which nominated William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

 for president.

Residence

In the early 1900s, Olds built an elaborate Queen Anne-style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

 mansion on South Washington Avenue in Lansing. Among the home's many technological innovations was a turntable
Car Turntable
A car turntable or driveway turntable is a rotating platform designed for use by a car; they can be motorized or manually rotated and are usually installed in a driveway or in a garage floor. They rotate a motor vehicle to facilitate its easier or safer egress...

 in the garage which allowed Olds to pull in at night and leave again the next morning without driving in reverse. The mansion was demolished in 1972 to make way for Interstate 496
Interstate 496
Interstate 496 is an Interstate Highway that passes through downtown Lansing, Michigan and is a "child" of Interstate 96. It is ceremonially designated the R.E. Olds Freeway along the portion that cuts through the city of Lansing...

, which ironically was then named for Olds himself. He had another house in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

, which is still standing, and is open to the public for tours.

See also

  • REO Speed Wagon - The wagon
    REO Speed Wagon
    The REO Speed Wagon was a light motor truck manufactured by REO Motor Car Company. It was an ancestor of the pickup truck....

  • REO Speedwagon - The band named after the wagon
    REO Speedwagon
    REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...


External links

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