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Ransom E. Olds
Ransom Eli Olds (June 3, 1864–August 26, 1950) was a pioneer of the American automobile industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and Reo brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896.
Olds was born in Geneva, Ohio, the son of blacksmith Pliny Fisk Olds and Sarah Whipple Olds, moving later to Lansing, Michigan.
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 Olds became vice president and general manager.
In 1901 Olds 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.
Olds and Smith clashed frequently until Smith removed Olds 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. 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 107 years, was discontinued by General Motors in 2004.
Assembly line
Ransom E. Olds created the assembly line in 1901, although most credit Henry Ford, whose contribution was to refine the process and perfect the standardization of components. This new approach to putting together automobiles enabled him to more than quadruple his factory’s output, from 425 cars in 1901 to 2,500 in 1902.
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 km²) 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. 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.
