August 21.08.1897, XNUMX | Founding of the Oldsmobile brand

Near the capital of the American automobile industry, in Lansing, Ransome Eli Olds founded the Olds Motors Works, which eventually became Oldsmobile. 

From the very beginning, her assumption was the production of cars. Immediately after the launch of the plant, work began on the first prototypes, which, unfortunately, were swallowed up by a fire. One survived and went into production at a new plant built in Detroit, located 90 miles to the east.

Already in 1901, Olds experimented with electric drive. When designing the first Oldsmobile, he considered using an internal combustion engine, an electric engine, or a steam engine. Ultimately, the first concept won. So in 1901, the Curved Dash model was created, which became the first car produced on the assembly line. In the first year of production, about 600 units were built, and in subsequent years 3–4 units were produced per year, which, given the degree of development of cars, was an excellent result.

In 1908, the booming company was taken over by the emerging General Motors and remained in the company's portfolio until 2004.

Added by: 2 years ago,

a photo: Press materials