| Ransom Eli Olds |
Article Index for Ransom |
Website Links For Ransom |
Information About ™Ransom Eli Olds |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT RANSOM E. OLDS | |
| 1864 births | |
| olds, ransom e. | |
| 1950 deaths | |
| automotive pioneers | |
| people in the automobile industry | |
| olds, ransome e. | |
| oldsmobile | |
| people from lansing, michigan | |
|
Ransom Eli Olds ( June 3 , 1864 – August 26 , 1950 ) was a pioneer of American Automobile Industry . He claimed to have built his first Steam Car as early as 1894 and his first petrol car in 1896 . OLDSMOBILE .]] He founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan on August 21 , 1897 . The company was bought by a copper and lumber magnate named Samuel L. Smith in 1899 and renamed Olds Motor Works. The new company was relocated from Lansing to Detroit. Smith became president while Ransom became vice president and general manager. In 1901 Ransom designed the Curved Dash Oldsmobile which sold for $650. Although the factory was destroyed by fire that year, they still sold over 600 models of the Curved Dash. In 1904 sales were up to 5000 units. Ransom and Smith clashed frequently until Smith removed Ransom from the position of vice president and general manager in 1904 and Ransom E. Olds left his company. He went on to form the R.E. Olds Motor Car Company which was quickly changed to Reo Motor Company to avoid a lawsuit from the Olds Motor Works. The name REO came from the initials of his name as an Acronym . Ransom 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 107 years, was discontinued by General Motors in 2004 . RACING CAREER Olds was also famous for his racing on the Beaches Of Florida At Ormond And Daytona . He had the first timed run on the beach in a solo run some time between 1894 and 1901. In 1902, rich automobile pioneers Olds and Alexander Winton ( Winton Motor Carriage Company ) staged an unofficial event; Winton beat Olds by only 0.2 seconds. OLDSMAR In 1913 , Olds purchased 37,541 acres (152 km&2) of land by the northern part of Tampa Bay in Florida and developed the area into what is now the city of Oldsmar . HIS HOUSE In the early 1900s, Olds built an elaborate Queen Anne-style mansion on South Washington Avenue in Lansing. Among the home's many technological innovations was a turntable in the garage which allowed Olds to pull in at night and leave again the next morning without driving in reverse (a concept later appropriated by the Batman franchise). The mansion was demolished in 1972 to make way for Interstate 496 , which ironically was then named for Olds himself. he had another house in Ann Arbor, which is still standing, and is open to the public for tours. |
|
|